Kambala Institute of 

Teaching Excellence

Navigating the AI Frontier with Leon Furze

"I’m more frightened than interested by artificial intelligence – in fact, perhaps fright and interest are not far away from one another…A world run by automatons doesn’t seem completely unrealistic anymore. It’s a bit chilling."

Gemma Whelan

Whelan captures the emotional rollercoaster that reverberates throughout responses to Artificial Intelligence. On the one hand, it evokes “fright” in the unknown world we are facing. On the other hand, it inspires “interest” in what it means to co-exist with AI. As educators, we know that the rapid evolution of AI technology has already made an impact on the workforce and is becoming an increasingly present part of all facets of life. Therefore, it is our role to promote curiosity in the opportunities that AI poses, while also empowering our students to be critical users and receivers. 

To assist us in ensuring we remain future-focused, we have engaged the expertise of Leon Furze to support our professional learning in this space. Furze is an instrumental part of the dialogue around the place of AI in the future of education and is currently undertaking his PhD in the implications of Generative Artificial Intelligence on writing instruction. In his first session with Kambala teaching staff on Wednesday 21st August, Leon outlined the extensive opportunities as well as the ethical implications of AI, including the American-centric, gendered and racial biases in popular applications ChatGPT and Claude 3.5 Sonnet. He also took us through the more concerning risks in AI with a particular focus on Deepfake, which allows for the easy dissemination of misinformation. 

As we continue to provide a forward-thinking education, our commitment is to equip Kambala students with an informed “interest” in this complex AI frontier. 

Please look out for further information on free parent sessions with Leon Furze.