UVA Data Points

Artificial intelligence has the potential to change our societies, economies, and political systems in both intentional and unintended ways. While it is difficult to understand the full extent of what the long-term impacts may be, we have enough shared knowledge and expertise to predict the likely shapes that these changes may take—both for better and for worse. More importantly, we should ask ourselves what kind of future we want AI to help us create: what we want from the future of AI should ultimately determine the future of AI. This panel will bring together experts to discuss the intersection of AI and society and offer suggestions for how AI might work within a just, inclusive, sustainable, and fair digital future.

Panelist

• Farhana Faruqe, Assistant Professor of Data Science
• Sarah Lebovitz, Assistant Professor of Commerce
• Larry Medsker, Research Professor, George Washington University
• Mar Hicks, Associate Professor of Data Science (moderator)

In this episode we’re looking at the past, present, and future of artificial intelligence in higher education.

To explore this topics we’re featuring a conversation between Phil Bourne, the dean of the UVA School of Data Science, and Jeffrey Blume, the Associate Dean for Academic and Faculty Affairs, also at UVA Data Science.

Jeffrey and Phil discuss the recent trends in artificial intelligence and they look at how this will impact the student experience, the faculty and staff experience, and the research landscape in higher education.

This panel delves into how the faculty at UVA's School of Data Science are actively working to craft a liberal arts curriculum suitable for the digital age, one that not only adapts to but embraces changes in technology and practice. The panel discusses the future of data science education, including in K-12, the school’s guiding philosophy for its undergraduate and graduate programs (minor, B.S., online and residential M.S., Ph.D.), and the merits as well as challenges that arise when constructing a new educational curriculum for a new discipline.

This episode explores the intersection of neuroscience and data science with three experts in the field, Drs. John Darrell van Horn, Tanya Evans, and Teague Henry. As we know, the brain is complicated. People have been charting paths through the brain for decades, making breakthroughs and discoveries that have changed the world. In recent years though, new methodologies in brain research have made significant impacts. Advances in computing power, as well as techniques like machine learning, neural networks, and computer vision, have allowed researchers to ask questions and make discoveries that were not possible even ten years ago. Given these new approaches to studying the world’s most complicated organ, one could say that brain science is data science. Our guests make a compelling case.

This episode was recorded during the Miller Center’s 2023 William and Carol Stevenson Conference, U.S. China Tech Competiton: Has Democracy Met its Match?

For more info on this conference, as well as to watch the video versions, follow this link: https://millercenter.org/news-events/events/us-china-tech-competition-has-democracy-met-its-match

This episode features the first panel discussion from the conference entitled:

Apps, platforms, and surveillance

How might apps and other technology platforms play a role in Chinese government data-gathering efforts? What are potential policy responses to the increasingly complex data flows between the United States and China? This panel addresses the long-term stability of U.S. technology infrastructure and related concerns for U.S. national security.

Josh Chin, Kara Frederick, Shanthi Kalathil, Aynne Kokas (moderator)