A collaboration of UW–Madison’s IRIS centers hosted a workshop at the Madison Concourse Hotel and Governor’s Club last week. Titled “AI and Society: Community Impacts and New Directions,” the event drew over 55 educators, business leaders, and community partners from across the state.
Supported by the International Division and co-sponsored by the Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies Program, the Institute for Regional and International Studies National Resource Center, European Studies, and the Center for South Asia, the workshop explored artificial intelligence through thought-provoking conversations on its widespread effects.
The engaging discussions were a recurring sentiment among many of the participants. Hands shot up at every panel, fueled by conversations that sparked follow-up questions and led to a deeper exchange.
In addition to the conversations, attendees received tools, a complimentary book, and connections to a network of experts dedicated to analyzing how AI can be used responsibly and effectively. The workshop also explored several critical themes and covered practical applications and challenges in integrating AI tools into K-12 classrooms, highlighting how AI is shaping the future of learning.
Friday’s workshop focused on the foundational aspects of AI, with Laura Grossenbacher, director of Undergraduate Program Review in the College of Engineering, discussing strategies for teaching with AI, and Donnalie Jamnah, senior education program manager for the Pulitzer Center’s education team, highlighting the role of journalism and education in holding AI accountable. Discussions also investigated how AI influences creative industries, featuring insights from the director of Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC)’s Emily Hall.
Saturday’s sessions broadened the scope to AI’s societal and economic impacts, including a session on AI and environmental resilience led by James Crall and Rogers Jeffrey Leo John. The workshop also featured John Surdyk, faculty member at the Wisconsin School of Business and director of the Initiative for Studies in Transformational Entrepreneurship (INSITE), and Sachin Tuli, director of the UW International Business Program, who discussed the innovation and impact AI has in global business.
“Wildfires, floods, heatwaves, all of these natural disasters are more frequent now due to environmental factors,” said speaker Rogers Jeffrey Leo John, co-founder and chief technology officer of DataChat. “And to deal with all of these at scale, it’s impossible for humans to do it. You need a machine that can effectively look at all of the data that we get from these natural disasters to understand our living world better. It’s very important to use AI to understand this data so that we can make better decisions.”
Contributing to the goals of RISE-AI in the Wisconsin RISE Initiative, the event underscored UW–Madison’s commitment to a human-centered approach to technology. Conversations throughout the workshop, which touched on issues such as trustworthiness, mitigating biases, preserving privacy, and establishing an ethical AI policy, align with RISE-AI’s mission to propel the university to a new level of capacity in this growing field.
Want to dive deeper into the insights shared by these experts? You can find more information about the speakers and their contributions on the event page. Event co-sponsors are members of the Wisconsin International Resource Consortium (WIRC), a collaboration among the nine UW–Madison area studies centers.