New AI Strategy Group for LJMU

The university has moved to set up an AI Strategy Group under Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Raphaela Kane.

The group will consider the necessary frameworks as we look to make institution-wide investments in AI infrastructure, facilities and training for both academic and professional services staff.

“We need a roadmap,” said group lead Dr Henry Forsyth, Director of Public & Allied Health, whose thesis was in AI and who was speaking at the PAH Research & Knowledge Exchange Day at Tithebarn Building on 19 March.

Presenting on ‘Using AI for Collaborative Research’, Henry illustrated the power and speed of 'deep research' tools by taking a research proposal suggestion from the audience and setting an AI around 30 minutes to come back with a comprehensive literature review.

“It’s frightening how quickly tools are evolving; in the last year the ability of reasoning models to score highly in Mathematics, Coding and Science based benchmarks is impressive. For example, in the International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO), ChatGPT 4o (released in May 2024) solved 13% of complex mathematics problems whereas the latest models are now scoring 83%."

A game-changer

Henry describes AI as a “game-changer” for LJMU and all of higher education, and said many people he meets are already adopting aspects of generative and other AI models to save on time-consuming tasks.

A recent Oxford University study found 76% of researchers already using AI for literature reviews, data analysis and predictive modelling.

In one aspect, it is what he'd call a “partner in the writing and knowledge discovery process,” he says. “It’s hopefully like having a research assistant you can ask to go away and come back with a report on X, Y or Z. It allows us to focus on higher level activities that only we can do.”

In terms of research, he asked the audience to imagine an AI system that ingests literature from mathematics, biology and engineering all at once, and identifies connections or analogies between them that no single-domain expert would notice. This could spark entirely new research fields.

More widely, he urged colleagues to get involved if they haven’t already, whether it is employing chatbots in student services, or using GenAI to plan and create programmes, modules and assignments.

Even for those of us who do not fully adopt, he says we will “need to understand its potential” and “know its limitations as well as its benefits.”

The PAH Research Day was organised by Dr Jane Harris and Dr Clare Maxwell, pictured with Dr Forsyth