The history of the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) into technology and everyday life has had its ups and downs since first thought of in the 1950s and 1960s.
“It’s been around for a long time,” said JMU Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies Dr. Philip Frana.
Early on, AI was thought of from a philosophical perspective, then it was all about data science, algorithms and mathematics.
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A lot of tools humans use every day now are actually AI, such as the autocorrect when we type text messages on our cellular phones. Technology is available for the disabled to use AI to speak and write. Tutoring with AI is also available for students.
Frana began his work with AI in 2000 at the Charles Babbage Institute at the University of Minnesota, where he interviewed individuals and learned that humans have breakthroughs of inspiration, such as AI, get excited about the breakthrough, then speculation sets in and setback happens. The human fascination with AI has followed such a pattern over and over since the 1950s.
In 2025, humans have been in the speculative phase with many worried about the future of their jobs being taken away by AI. But, Frana said, the fascination of AI is about to take an up swing. According to Frana, the basic definition of AI is “the next big thing.”
“I do think we’re trying to find certainty in an uncertain world,” he said of humans turning to AI, possibly as a last option to find spiritual fulfillment or answers.
Frana, however, remains optimistic about the technology of AI, which is why he includes topics and lessons on AI in the curriculum of his courses at JMU. For the last three years, he has seen more and more students using AI outside the classroom and earning certification from IBM in his class on AI.
Co-author of the “Encyclopedia of AI,” Frana teaches his students AI literacy and the ethical reasoning of using AI. His students are in JMU’s Independent Scholars program, in which students create their own major, and in JMU’s Honors College, so students pursuing all disciplines are taking his classes.
From the beginning, AI started from all disciplines, but, Frana said, “it’s a shame” that in the decades since the technology has evolved into a narrow discipline.
“I think that these things really do run their course,” he said.
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While narrow in thought now, AI has emerged into the mainstream and is showing up in multiple ways. In September, Frana will attend an AI workshop hosted by Google and Virginia Works focused on AI in the workforce. In October, he will travel to Arlington for the White House Government AI Summit.
He sees federal, state and local governments pushing for use of AI, and interest in AI is similar as in 1994 when the Internet was introduced and many Americans started dot com jobs, but then the dot com jobs dried up.
“November 2022 was kind of a shock,” Frana said of the release of ChatGPT. Chatbots actually began in the 1970s, according to Frana, but then interest in them waned until 2022. He considered 2022 to be too soon for the technology’s release for public use before kinks were worked out, and he ended up being right.
He sees AI staying around for the long run and an attempt now to bring it back to a broader and more humanistic view.
“I think learning these AI applications will be important in the workplace,” he said of teaching his students to be prepared for the workforce when they graduate with degrees.
Some teachers discourage students from engaging with AI, but he wants his students to be aware and responsible with it, not dependent on the technology.
“I think AI is going to be habit forming, just like social media has been,” he said.
He does not worry about the future of AI, because AI will never be capable of originality like humans. He believes and trusts in the wisdom of his students to properly use the technology.
“I want people to continue to think for themselves,” he said. And to consider what kind of world we actually want with AI. “There’s no putting the genie back in the bottle.”
Critical thinking will remain most important for employees in the workforce, but students entering the workforce will need AI skills to navigate careers. Frana hopes to prepare his students with AI skills so that they no longer need him after they graduate.
Ultimately, humans need not fear what AI can do.
“Life is for living things, not artificial things,” Frana said.
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Rebecca Barnabi
