{"id":90030,"date":"2025-10-19T05:37:23","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T05:37:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/90030\/"},"modified":"2025-10-19T05:37:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T05:37:23","slug":"wms-newest-dean-to-lay-out-his-vision-for-artificial-intelligence-wm-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/90030\/","title":{"rendered":"W&M\u2019s newest dean to lay out his vision for artificial intelligence \u2013 W&M News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even though the title of William & Mary\u2019s spring Tack Faculty Lecture<\/a> is \u201cSurfing the AI Wave: A Human-Centered Approach to Innovation and Ethics,\u201d the speaker says AI is probably more than a wave. It might be closer to a tsunami. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a seismic shift reshaping every aspect of our society,\u201d said Doug Schmidt B.A. \u201984, M.A. \u201986, the inaugural dean of William & Mary\u2019s new School of Computing, Data Sciences & Physics<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"A(Poster by Emmaline Nelsen)<\/p>\n

Schmidt will expound on the topic at 7 p.m. April 9 when he delivers the spring Tack Lecture in the Sadler Center\u2019s Commonwealth Auditorium. The event<\/a> is free and open to the public, but people interested in attending are asked to RSVP.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cJust as the printing press, the steam engine and the internet revolutionized the way we think, work and live, AI is challenging us to rethink the boundaries of human creativity, ethical responsibility and education itself,\u201d Schmidt said. \u201cThe question is no longer whether AI will influence our lives, but how we will shape its role in a way that preserves human ingenuity rather than diminishing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his new role<\/a>, Schmidt will lead that charge on campus, bolstered by his own William & Mary education and with what he calls the \u201ctimeless principles\u201d he absorbed while getting his degree in sociology here. <\/p>\n

\u201cWilliam & Mary has long been a place where critical thinking and intellectual rigor thrive. It\u2019s where I learned not just to absorb knowledge, but to question, refine and apply it meaningfully,\u201d Schmidt said. \u201cDecades later, I find myself returning to principles instilled by my professors \u2014 principles that are more relevant today than ever as we grapple with the promises and perils of AI.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his talk, Schmidt plans to go into depth on those core values and explain how they will shape a \u201chuman-centered approach\u201d to AI.<\/p>\n

An internationally recognized scholar with more than three decades of experience in academic and government leadership roles, Schmidt leads the first new school created at W&M in more than 50 years. The School of Computing, Data Sciences & Physics launches this fall, with a mission to prepare students for success in a data-driven world. Schmidt sees his mission as nothing less than leading W&M into developing a human-centered approach to AI that integrates responsible innovation, ethical considerations and critical engagement. <\/p>\n

He\u2019ll also focus on how the university can address the growing digital divide between those who leverage AI effectively and those at risk of being left behind. \u201cWe have to ensure that we\u2019re not passive spectators but active participants in this transformation,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Launched in 2012, the Tack Faculty Lecture Series celebrates faculty excellence and the intellectual liveliness of the university. Through this series, a William & Mary professor addresses the community on a topic of general interest at least once a semester, showcasing the university\u2019s most engaging professors. All lectures are free and open to the public. A generous commitment by Martha \u201978 and Carl Tack \u201978 created an endowment for the series and speakers, who are William & Mary faculty members and receive stipends for their presentations.<\/p>\n

Everyone on campus is invited. \u201cThis isn\u2019t just another lecture \u2014 it\u2019s an invitation to be part of a conversation that will shape the future of education, work and society,\u201d Schmidt said. \u201cIf you care about the intersection of technology and ethics, or if you simply want to ensure that you\u2019re surfing the AI wave rather than being swept away by it, you won\u2019t want to miss this discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Susan Corbett<\/a>, Communications Specialist<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Even though the title of William & Mary\u2019s spring Tack Faculty Lecture is \u201cSurfing the AI Wave: A…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90031,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[241,61,60,80],"class_list":["post-90030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-computing","tag-computing","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}