AI symposium highlights interdisciplinary research and scholarship

Advances in Artificial Intelligence, both the capability of machine learning and the cultural impacts of large language models, took center stage at a UGA symposium at the end of November.

Key note speaker Ian Bogost shared many of his experiences utilizing new AI tools and grappling with some of the challenges they present. Our colleagues share the story:

Bogost, Barbara and David Thomas Distinguished Professor at Washington University in St. Louis with a dual appointment as professor and director of film and media studies and professor of computer science and engineering, provided the symposium’s keynote address.

Bogost urged attendees to avoid viewing generative AI, such as ChatGPT and Dall-E, as a tool for process optimization at the expense of imagination.

“AI works best for me when I use it to extend my imagination,” he said.

The symposium also featured two “lightning rounds” of brief talks by UGA faculty members from a wide range of disciplines. Faculty highlighted their use of AI and data science in research topics such as crop modeling and assessment, physics-informed machine learning for infectious disease forecasting, data science in advanced manufacturing and AI’s integration into society.

A panel discussion closed the symposium. Participants examined the impact of AI and ChatGPT on teaching and learning at UGA, industries that stand to benefit from AI and the ethics of AI in research and society, among other topics.

The lightning rounds were particularly fascinating, and not only for the brevity constraint for discussing complex topics. Among the presenters were two Franklin College faculty members, Ari Schlesinger and Neal Outland, whose work we will be following closely in the months and years to come. Our thanks to all the presenters – keep up the great work.

Image: an Bogost, center, of Washington University in St. Louis speaks during a panel discussion at the AI and Data Science Across Disciplines Symposium on Nov. 30 at the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education & Hotel. Meg Mittelstadt, left, director of UGA’s Center for Teaching and Learning, and Tianming Liu, right, Distinguished Research Professor in the School of Computing, and Youjin Kong (not pictured), assistant professor in the department of philosophy, joined Bogost in discussing advances in artificial intelligence. (Photo by Mike Wooten)