Montana State to host artificial intelligence symposium March 26

BOZEMAN - Montana State University will host a daylong symposium on artificial intelligence Thursday, March 26, to explore how AI is used in higher education, with the goal of deepening understanding of the technology's opportunities and challenges for research, the classroom and beyond.

Hosted by MSU's new Interdisciplinary Institute on Artificial Intelligence, the symposium is free and open to the public and will take place in Ballroom A of MSU's Strand Union Building. The symposium will feature presentations from MSU faculty members and others on topics ranging from how AI supports digital agriculture and quantum technologies to AI's relationship to human communication. Speakers will discuss their latest research on AI, consider how to collaborate on new courses about AI, and explore how AI is affecting teaching, learning and research. A full agenda is online.

"What distinguishes MSU is our truly interdisciplinary approach to AI," said William Thomas, dean of MSU's College of Letters and Science and one of the leaders of MSU's new AI institute. "We are bringing together expertise from many different fields across the university, from computer science and engineering to ethics, philosophy, history, library and information science, writing, science, business, education, and the arts and professions."

The MSU Interdisciplinary Institute on Artificial Intelligence, or IIAI, aims to help enhance research, empower students to understand and critically evaluate AI, and provide Montanans knowledge related to AI through research, teaching and workforce development efforts.

"The MSU Interdisciplinary Institute on AI expands MSU's educational and research capacity to address AI literacy across scientific, humanistic, agricultural, business, technical and professional fields," said Doralyn Rossmann, dean of the MSU Library and another leader of the IIAI. "Artificial Intelligence does more than create new opportunities for the ways we do our work; it enables entirely new modes of discovery and knowledge creation that were previously out of reach."

Thomas said MSU's interdisciplinary approach to AI is apt, given that "AI raises questions that no single discipline can solve."

"Montana is one of the least densely populated states in the U.S. but also one of the fastest-growing technology hubs in the U.S.," said MSU Provost Bob Mokwa. "MSU is uniquely positioned to critically examine AI and to engage in meaningful, long-term partnerships with rural, agricultural, mining, and Native communities, and communities throughout the state, to explore the impact of AI across the full breadth of learning, life and culture in the U.S."

The MSU IIAI will also host a national symposium Oct. 1-2 on the future of AI. The two-day event will be held in the forthcoming Gianforte Hall and bring together leading national speakers, faculty and students. More details on the fall symposium will be released at a later date.