Why do people think Australian universities are mismanaged organisations run by overpaid consultants who chase shiny fads, at the expense of quality research and education? 🤔
But seriously. I'm sure the underpaid and overworked tutors will be thrilled to learn their university is paying Macquarie Uni's outgoing AI expert a pro vice-chancellor's salary to move interstate.
"La Trobe University has poached Macquarie University’s head of artificial intelligence Phil Laufenberg, appointing him to a pro vice-chancellorship position focused on the technology.
"Laufenberg will join La Trobe from early April, taking on dual titles of pro vice-chancellor artificial intelligence and chief artificial intelligence officer, reflecting twin responsibilities overseeing both its strategy and technical deployment.
"While it’s not unheard of for technology leaders to be given prestigious pro vice-chancellorships, La Trobe said that Laufenberg’s appointment with a mandate to focus solely on AI is a first of its kind in Australia’s university sector.
"Laufenberg will have a busy schedule in the new role.
"La Trobe has set itself a goal to become an “AI-first” university and vice-chancellor Professor Theo Farrell said Laufenberg’s appointment is the start of a new phase in the transformation.
"It’s given itself until the end of the year to provide all its staff and students access to advanced AI tools."
https://www.itnews.com.au/news/macquarie-unis-ai-chief-heads-to-la-trobe-623997?eid=1&edate=20260305&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=mastodon
#AI #education #LLM #Chatbot #Claude #copilot #anthropic #openai #ChatGPT #auspol
