“Me, Myself and AI”, the EDHEC Artificial Intelligence Center’s new bootcamp

Michelle Sisto, Associate Professor, Associate Dean and Director of the EDHEC Artificial Intelligence Centre, organised this first artificial intelligence bootcamp. The programme revolved around conferences, group work and time spent individually by students thinking about their use of AI. Each day of the event saw 350 students receive support from 14 facilitators, comprising EDHEC professors and transdisciplinary researchers*, together with experts in pedagogical innovation, including Emmanuelle Houet and Claudia Carrone, Director and Deputy Manager of the EDHEC PiLab, respectively, and Clément Lemainque and Ethan Pierse, both AI consultants.

For this first bootcamp students were given a logbook in order to record their ideas and impressions concerning AI. Has my relationship with this tool changed over time? How can it help or hinder my learning? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the different large language models (LLMs) that I use?

Each day was based on the Learning, Ethics, Accuracy, Development (LEAD) framework of the “AI Literacy for All” module developed by the Digital Education Council, of which EDHEC is a member, and which students completed before the bootcamp.

Leveraging AI for learning

During the first part of the morning, the students gathered in the lecture hall were asked to identify their learning style — visual, written, musical, etc. In pairs, they then discussed the subject of learning styles and considered how AI could help them to assimilate knowledge. This introspective exercise was fuelled by a presentation from Michelle Sisto which focused on the results of a survey into EDHEC students’ use of AI (frequency, types of use, objectives). Continuing with the theme, Emmanuelle Deglaire took the floor to talk about different learning methods (linguistic, logical, interpersonal, etc.) and the way in which poor use of AI can adversely affect cognition**.

The students were then organised into groups and assigned two exercises. The first involved considering the issue of recruitment for an EDHEC student association, and more specifically how to develop an innovative strategy to attract more students. For the purposes of the exercise, the groups employed different research methods that involved identifying innovative ideas through group discussion only, questioning several AIs via simple prompts, then formulating complex prompts based on ideas generated by the two previous methods. This activity aimed to teach students to use AI solely for the purpose of enriching their ideas.

The second exercise revolved around five case studies. These concerned ethical situations in the academic sphere involving inappropriate uses of AI, e.g. an AI-based pilot test for grading students performed by a university without informing its students; the use of AI by a student for a group project without notifying the other members of the group in advance; a professor creating a whole lesson with AI without telling their class. For each case, the students were tasked with identifying the stakeholders concerned by the different situations, as well as the benefits and risks linked to the use of AI. They also had to illustrate the associated ethical or regulatory principles. Through this exercise, students gained a clearer idea of the consequences of poor use of AI, whether in terms of the quality of academic output or non-compliance with ethical rules or the law.  

Embedding responsibility into the use of AI

In the afternoon, students continued with different sequences dealing with the concept of responsible use of AI. Wim Vandekerckhove discussed other ethical issues raised by the technology (environmental impact, data security, geopolitical issues) and underlined research on the subject of gender-based machine bias.

Next, to provide great insight into generative AI, Victor Planas described how LLMs work and demonstrated that they are statistical systems based on probabilities and not a form of conscious intelligence. He then helped students discover different types of LLMs (Claude, ChatGPT, Mistral, etc.). In pairs, the Pre-Master students wrote various prompts (informal, creative, educational) for several LLMs and analysed the quality, the sources, and the similarity or divergence of the tools’ responses, along with their veracity.

To round off the sequence, Michelle Sisto presented students with examples in which documents written by experts contained false information generated by AI, e.g. a lawyer using ChatGPT in a lawsuit with an airline or a report prepared for the Australian government by a consultancy firm, containing several AI-induced errors. These examples illustrated to students the importance of checking sources. Michelle Sisto also spotlighted the current and future impact of AI on work and jobs. Following these presentations, the students returned to their logbooks to complete the section devoted to AI’s effects on their academic life and future career. The aim was to have them anticipate in an objective manner the impact the technology is likely to have on their development and future profession.  

The final part of the bootcamp focused on the framework for using AI at EDHEC. The students began by writing a responsible AI charter in groups, using the knowledge gained during the bootcamp. This document had to embody an enlightened approach to AI – founded on transparency, the development of critical thinking, the reliability of sources and respect for the legal and regulatory framework. Michelle Sisto then retook the floor to specify the principles governing the use of AI at EDHEC, while also raising questions that are driving the School’s thinking on the subject, i.e. What type of new manager model is likely to emerge? A professional capable of managing hybrid teams comprising both humans and AI systems? How to safeguard and incorporate a long-term vision into our practices, particularly moments of contemplation and concentration, in response to ever-faster tools? And how can EDHEC ensure that its students continue to develop intellectually throughout their management studies? As an initial response, Michelle Sisto concluded by urging students “to never stop cultivating their creativity and powers of critical thinking”.

* Peter Daly, Professor of Management and Leadership, Emmanuelle Deglaire, Professor of Tax and Law, Wim Vandekerckhove, Professor of Business Ethics, Tuba Bakici, Professor of IT Systems, Victor Planas Bielsa, Director of Data Science & AI for Business and Academic Director of the MSc and EDHEC Online programmes.

** Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task, Nataliya Kosmyna, Eugene Hauptmann, Ye Tong Yuan, Jessica Situ, Xian-Hao Liao, Ashly Vivian Beresnitzky, Iris Braunstein, Pattie Maes, Cornell University, 2025.