Through three public panels and discussions, the Assessing and Imagining the Impact of Generative AI on Science Symposium will examine how AI is currently deployed in research, how access and equity shape its impact, and how emerging innovations intersect with policy, funding, and public trust.
Featuring leading voices from both within Cornell and across academia and industry, the event offers a rare, interdisciplinary look at the opportunities and challenges ahead as generative AI transforms how knowledge is produced, shared, and evaluated.
Day One: Tracking, Understanding, and Governing AI Use (March 3)
Bringing together computer scientists building AI tools, domain scientists deploying them, funders and policy experts, and university leaders to examine how generative AI is currently used in research, and how it can be responsibly governed.
Public Panel: Tracking, Understanding, and Governing AI: How generative AI is currently used in research, and how such use can be responsibly governed.
March 3; 9 – 11 a.m.; Computing and Information Science Building 142; via Zoom
Registration for panel on March 3
Opening remarks by Thorsten Joachims, Vice Provost for Artificial Intelligence Strategy, Jacob Gould Schurman Professor in the departments of Computer Science and of Information Science, Cornell University
Panelists:
- Maria Antoniak: Assistant Professor of Computer Science, University of Colorado Boulder
- Chaoqun Ni: Associate Professor, The Information School, University of Wisconsin–Madison
- Paul Ginsparg: Professor of Information Science and Physics; Founder of arXiv, Cornell University
- Bogdan Vasilescu: Associate Professor, Software and Societal Systems Department, Carnegie Mellon University
- Moderated by David Mimno: Professor and Chair, Department of Information Science, Cornell University
Day Two: Equity, Access, and Collaboration (March 4)
Focusing on the human dimensions of AI in science, including human–AI collaborations for scientific discoveries, disparities in access to tools and computing resources, the distribution of benefits and risks, and how generative AI reshapes collaboration and human–AI teamwork.
Public Panel: Equity, Access, and Collaboration: Disparities in access to AI tools and compute, the distribution of benefits and risks, and how generative AI reshapes collaboration and human–AI teamwork.
March 4; 3 – 5 p.m.; Gates Hall G01; via Zoom
Registration for public panel on March 4
Opening remarks by Dr. Gary Koretzky ’78 Vice Provost for Research, a professor emeritus of medicine and Weill Cornell Medicine, and professor emeritus of microbiology and immunology, Cornell University
Panelists:
- Savannah Thais: Assistant Professor of Computer Science, CUNY / Hunter College
- Toby Stuart: Leo Helzel Distinguished Professor of Business Administration, UC Berkeley Haas
- Kati Kish Bar‑On: Alfred P. Sloan Meta‑Science and AI Postdoctoral Fellow, Boston University
- Eun‑Ah Kim: Hans A. Bethe Professor of Physics, Cornell University; Director of the Artificial Intelligence Materials Institute (AI-MI)
- Moderated by Ranjit Singh: Program Director, AI on the Ground, Data & Society
Day Three: Innovation, Policy, and Broad Impact (March 5)
Examining how AI-driven changes in scientific production interact with funding and resource allocation, science communication and public trust, and emerging models of collective human–AI intelligence.
Public Panel: Innovation, Policy, and Broad Impact: How AI-driven changes in scientific production interact with funding and resource allocation, science communication, and public trust.
March 5; 9 – 11 a.m.; Computing and Information Science Building 142; via Zoom
Registration for public panel March 5
Opening remarks by Kavita Bala, Provost, computer scientist, entrepreneur, and professor, Cornell University
Panelists:
- danah boyd: Geri Gay Professor of Communication, Cornell University
- Morgan Frank: Assistant Professor, School of Computing and Information, University of Pittsburgh; MIT Connection Science Fellow
- Sukwoong Choi: Assistant Professor, Information Systems and Business Analytics, University at Albany (SUNY)
- Peter Loewen: Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences; Professor of Government, Cornell University
- Moderated by Yian Yin: Assistant Professor of Information Science, Cornell University
We invite scholars from technical, social scientific, and humanistic backgrounds to participate, as well as the most ardent supporters and detractors of generative AI to attend the sessions. If generative AI will be able to come through on its potential for science, these conversations will help us figure out how that future unfolds.
The three public panels are open to the Cornell community and bring together researchers, practitioners, and thought leaders to explore emerging questions in AI.
CO-SPONSORS:
Cornell AI Initiative, the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, Research & Innovation, the Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences, and the Center for Data Science for Enterprise and Society.