Utah Valley University AI Expert Visits SLU-Madrid

05/28/2025

Adam Ogurlu, Ph.D., presented "AI and Cognition and Creativity?" to the Saint Louis University-Madrid community on May 27 as part of a series of research-related meetings on campus with a visiting delegation from Utah Valley University.

Ogurlu, an education professor at UVU, spoke to the reality of AI development and its effect on education. A strong proponent of AI use, he explained that “AI in the future cannot reach that level of human potentiality.”

"Of course, AI would beat most of us when it comes to creativity, but not the highest level of humanity," he said.

Ogurlu came to campus with a delegation of faculty and scholars from the Orem, Utah, university led by Baldomero Lago, Ph.D., director of the UNESCO Chair on AI, Environmental Stewardship, and Sustainable Futures. The primary objective of the visit on May 26-27 was to foster research collaboration and long-term academic partnerships between UVU and SLU-Madrid.

Ogurlu used Bloom's Taxonomy to define human intelligence with the highest level being creativity. "To come up with useful stuff, as humans, you must have some life experience — or another way of saying 'wisdom,'" he said.

He went on to say that intelligence is complex due to how people view the world, involving biases and unique lived experiences.

He said that perception is key when distinguishing between artificial intelligence and human intelligence. While discussing computers’ limitations he emphasized that "AI cannot perceive. It will just work on data that humans put in."

He concluded the presentation by explaining how "co-creation" between humans and AI is projected to take off in the future.