In this episode of the Smarter Campus Podcast, host Zach Kinzler sits down with Michael Curtin, Innovation Coordinator and Adjunct Faculty in Informatics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Michael’s path is anything but ordinary — moving between the worlds of video game development and academia, he’s built a rare perspective on how to bridge creativity, technology, and education.

Together, Zach and Michael explore how the skills that make great game designers — experimentation, iteration, and imagination — are exactly what higher education needs to navigate the AI era.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• How Michael’s work in video games naturally led him to AI innovation
• Why universities need “translators” who can bridge technical and non-technical communities
• The expectation problem — why people think AI should act like every other program
• What makes ChatGPT 3.5 a turning point for higher education
• How AI can serve as a “thought partner” for rapid ideation and creative exploration
• The importance of managing hype while embracing potential

Michael’s story shows that the future of education isn’t just about adopting new tools — it’s about rethinking how we connect creativity, communication, and technology across disciplines.