Harnessing AI for the Common Good

Gill, who is planning to major in computer science and economics, said she was drawn to the project because of its "human forward" nature. "It is not using generative AI to take away from human creativity. The story being told is entirely the subject's own, with AI as the mechanism that facilitates the conversation rather than shapes it," she commented. "So much of the current conversation around generative AI focuses on what it can replace, but this project is about providing something to people who might not have otherwise had the chance to record their life story."

Cecil and Gill say they have already started testing the product with a few participants, and the project is set to be scaled up in the fall. It's important, they say, to remain aware of AI's limitations throughout the whole process, both in terms of creativity and its tendency to fabricate information, which is why human input remains central at every stage.

Aubrey Gifford '28 has been working with Tina Chong, associate director of the Baldwin Center for Learning and Teaching, to build and pilot an AI "coach" app that helps students follow through on anti-procrastination goals, through daily check-ins and weekly reflections.

The aim, said the neuroscience and religion major, is to provide students with a comprehensive, evidence-based anti-procrastination program tailored specifically to each user's needs, and she hopes it will be ready by the fall.

Chong runs specialized anti-procrastination workshops on campus, and students who attend these, said Gifford, will gain access to a mobile app that allows them to continue implementing the strategies and concepts learned there. "The app is centered around goals that each student sets for themselves and includes features such as daily micro check-ins, weekly guided reflections, and an AI coach that delivers feedback in a way that best benefits the individual student, helping them achieve the goals they've set. I chose to work on this because I thought it was a cool opportunity to potentially see the tools that I work on directly benefit the student body."

Henry Risch '28 is assisting Professor of Economics Erik Nelson, who specializes in environmental economics, develop a public-facing interface for a greenhouse-gas-emissions tracking tool built on EPA and Department of Energy (DOE) data.

They are designing a research tool that uses AI to make the EPA's Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory -a comprehensive annual report that tracks US emissions- more accessible to the public and researchers. The project, said Risch, was motivated in part by recent actions from the current administration, including not publishing an annual inventory for the first time in thirty years, and dramatically scaling back the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program that some eight thousand industrial facilities use to report emissions. The AI system, he explained, uses a tool that combines natural language processing with a searchable database of EPA documents, regularly updated fossil fuel use data from the DOE, and Python code, allowing users to ask questions about past and current emission rates in plain English and receive cited, validated answers.

"I was drawn to the project because it pushed me well outside my comfort zone," said the environmental studies and economics major. "This work spans so many important subjects, like economics, environmental science, and software development, that I just couldn't pass it up. As an environmental studies major, I've followed greenhouse gas reporting closely, so getting to work on the tools that could make that data more transparent and usable for researchers feels meaningful.

"Furthermore, to be able to use AI in a way that truly captures the College's mission of pursuing the common good brings a lot of fulfillment to my work."