AI and OT: Preparing Future-ready Practitioners

Aim of the project: To assess current state of artificial intelligence (AI) within occupational therapy (OT) practice, education, and research To support the departmental AI readiness of the University of Nebraska’s Medical Center’s OT program To create a student resource empowering integration of ethical and beneficial use of generative AI technologies in the curriculum Data collection: Researchers are pursuing several avenues of data collection including conducting a scoping review, and semi-structured interviews and surveys with faculty, administrative staff, and students. Analysis will include qualitative and quantitative findings compiled into a needs assessment report. Student resource: Topics covered in the student resource include an introduction to the fundamental of AI, a description of the current state of AI within OT, tutorials on use of UNMC approved AI tools with examples specific to OT curriculum, prompt engineering, ethical concerns about the use of AI and how to be an informed user, and will connect students to resources and point people within the broader UNMC community to further their understanding of the technology. Additional resources: The project includes the creation of learning activities for different courses within the curriculum that encourages student use of AI technology with accompanying rubrics to assist faculty in incorporating the technology into their courses.