Cornell University

Cornell AI Initiative

Latest stories, updates, and announcements that highlight the people, research, and progress of AI throughout Cornell.

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AI Headlines from Around the University

Cornell leads project putting robots to work in US orchards

A Cornell-led research project is developing robots that can perform labor-intensive orchard operations; it’s supported by a four-year, $7.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Specialty Crop Research Initiative. 

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Cornell expands AI Critical Literacy Program for incoming students

After a successful pilot launch in the spring, Cornell’s AI Critical Literacy Program will be offered in the fall to all incoming students as well as other interested students, faculty members and staff.

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Strike a pose: Creating more realistic multi-person images

A Cornell research group has devised a way to generate an image of multiple people, incorporating the poses of all individuals to inform the image generation and make the scene more believable and accurate.

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Weak AI regulation may backfire, making products less safe

A new modeling study finds no regulation of AI products and services may be safer than weak regulation.

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Inside baseball: AI-enabled enforcement tech takes time, testing

Training artificial intelligence to enforce even seemingly straightforward rules – like balls and strikes in Major League Baseball – is a messy, dynamic process that takes time and careful evaluation of the technology.

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AI artist rendering of people in the office

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A New Research Focus at Global Labor Institute

July 14, 2026

Most conversations about AI and labor concentrate on displacement: will AI take your job, and which sectors are most exposed? These are important questions. But instead of focusing only on whether AI is taking your job, we feel it’s important to also ask: what happens to your job if it doesn’t?

Carla Gomes

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Gomes in Daedalus: How to train AI to reason like scientists

July 13, 2026

What will scientific discovery look like in the age of artificial intelligence (AI)?

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Alums launch company to streamline cash flow processes

July 9, 2026

The newest podcast from Entrepreneurship at Cornell features the founders of Tabs.

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AI research team could streamline clinical trial design

July 8, 2026

An artificial intelligence system that operates like a collaborative team of medical experts could accelerate clinical trial design, one of the most difficult steps in drug development.

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Inside baseball: AI-enabled enforcement tech takes time, testing

July 6, 2026

Training artificial intelligence to enforce even seemingly straightforward rules – like balls and strikes in Major League Baseball – is a messy, dynamic process that takes time and careful evaluation of the technology.

I voted buttons

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‘Who Should I Vote for?’ Voters Turn to A.I. Before Casting Their Ballots

July 4, 2026

David Rand, a Cornell University professor, discusses the persuasive power and limitations of artificial intelligence in election decision-making.

Cornell university skyline with blue skies

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AI & Society Seed Grants

July 4, 2026

Internal funding to support social science and humanities research on the societal impacts of AI.
Deadline: August 15, 2026.

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Speeding up a manual process helps Cornell recover $100,000

July 2, 2026

A two-semester collaboration between the Cornell AI Innovation Hub, graduate students and the Cornell Treasury Operations team transformed a time‑consuming, manual investigation process into a tool that helps staff process cryptic payments.

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Can AI plan for heat emergencies better than simple rules? It depends

July 1, 2026

For consequential decision-making, the benefits of a simple index score vs. a less-interpretable predictive AI algorithm depend, researchers from Cornell found, on the desired outcome as well as the decision’s intended audience.