PennWest’s Dr. Camille Dempsey (Director, PennWest Center for Artificial Intelligence & Emerging Technologies) joins us to talk about launching an AI center at speed, empowering rural and urban communities, and keeping human judgment at the core of AI-enabled learning. We dig into her upcoming book Once Upon a Chatbot: Fairy Tales about Artificial Intelligence, the student ambassador model, certificate/badging plans, and how to move past “plagiarism panic” toward responsible use, critical thinking, and real-world readiness.You’ll learn:- How a grassroots vision became a university AI hub serving faculty, students, and local partner- A practical playbook for universities starting with limited resources- Ways to scaffold “human-first, AI-assisted” coursework without outsourcing thinking- Why communities of practice + student ambassadors accelerate culture changeGuest: Dr. Camille Dempsey, Director, PennWest Center for AI & Emerging Technologies00:34 — Intro — Erie and the Pennwest Center2:29 — Once Upon a Chatbot4:54 — How AI is different6:49 — Story of the launch of PennWest10:17 — Serving the broader community11:29 — People reach out to established centers14:09 — AI is here, we need to prepare our students17:09 — Student ambassadors23:03 — Badging and professional development25:19 — AI as a copilot and writing35:49 — Changing mindstes40:29 — Learn as much as you can#AIinHigherEd #AIEthics #AIandTeaching #PennWest #AIEd