NE North Dakota News

The University of North Dakota (UND) will host an AI and Human Innovation Showcase on February 28 at the Memorial Union’s Henry Ballroom. This event, organized by UND's AI and Human Innovation Initiative, is designed to bring together faculty, staff, and students to explore the intersection of artificial intelligence and the humanities.

The daylong event will feature two sessions. The morning session includes a keynote speech by Sarah Newman, director of Art and Education at Harvard’s metaLAB, titled “Bringing Humanities Perspectives to AI.” Her address will be delivered virtually but accessible both in-person and online. Following her presentation, a panel comprising UND faculty, staff, students, and College of Education & Human Development Dean Shelbie Witte will discuss their work related to Newman's themes.

In the afternoon session, student and faculty research will be showcased through poster presentations and a fast-paced lightning round. More than 25 projects from various humanities disciplines will be highlighted.

Emily Cherry Oliver, professor of theatre arts and co-director of the AI and Human Innovation Initiative at UND, emphasized the event's goal to encourage critical thinking about AI. “The hope of the showcase is to provide a platform to say what’s happening in the world of AI,” she said. “If you’re terrified of AI, that’s totally fine. But maybe you can come, listen to the ways that people are using it and say, ‘Oh, this isn’t so scary.’”

Cherry Oliver noted that many people associate AI with technology fields alone but hopes this showcase illustrates its integration with arts and humanities. She mentioned assistant professor Justin Montigne’s Virtual Voice Project as an example where AI supplements human creativity.

She stressed the importance of connecting arts with tech fields: “If the arts and humanities aren’t closely connected with the tech fields, we will have dire consequences,” she said.

Cherry Oliver also remarked on significant student involvement in submissions for the showcase: “I think that students are really leading the way in AI,” she said. Events like these help bridge understanding between students' use of AI and faculty insights.

“We wanted this platform...to say ‘Show us what’s going on,’” she added. The event serves as an opportunity for those unfamiliar with AI to explore it further while providing active participants new ideas or collaborations.

“Even if you don’t even know or understand what AI is," Cherry Oliver concluded,"this showcase could be a way for you to just explore."