![\"Four](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/UT_Symposium2026_009-scaled.jpg\")
Photo by Noah Devereaux<\/p>\nThe symposium addressed topical issues through interdisciplinary and cross-sector discourse, with programming that included panels and research presentations on:<\/p>\n
Agentic AI and the changing landscape of work
\nThe role of robotics in health care
\nThe harmful traits of AI companions
\nSpeech generation technologies
\nAdvances in robotic surgery
\nFair and transparent data use
\nMusic and creative work in the age of generative AI
\nAnd more<\/p>\n
Attendees engaged with experts to examine ethical considerations and leading-edge interdisciplinary research during the two-day event. Common themes emerged, including the value of collaboration between academia, industry and government; the increasing importance of critical thinking, creativity and continuous learning as key practices to hone for students, faculty and practitioners alike; and the need to work together to better define and safeguard human agency and responsibility as we develop and use robots, AI agents and autonomous systems.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, we\u2019re in a moment where machine learning, artificial intelligence \u2014 especially generative artificial intelligence \u2014 is changing the world in many ways,\u201d said Peter Stone, department chair in Computer Science. \u201cThis is the first time these three organizations have come together to give a joint symposium, but I think, especially in this moment, it\u2019s fitting to have machine learning, robotics and Good Systems Ethical AI all together in this room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s opening panel set the tone for the event, with a bold exploration into the role of intelligent systems across society. Moderated by Stone, the faculty leaders of Texas Robotics, Good Systems, and the Machine Learning Lab \u2014 Jos\u00e9 del R. Mill\u00e1n, Ken Fleischmann and \u00a0\u00a0Adam Klivans, respectively \u2014 shared what they most look forward to for the future of AI, ML and robotics at UT and beyond.<\/p>\n
Photo by Noah Devereaux<\/p>\n
Klivans discussed the value of open-source AI models in advancing responsible research and technologies, such as those being developed by the Machine Learning Lab, the Institute for Foundations of Machine Learning, and the Center for Generative AI, all powered by vast computing resources, including the largest compute cluster in academia<\/a> at the Texas Advanced Computing Center. \u201cWe\u2019ll be able to train close to frontier-size models and try out a lot of ideas to find out what\u2019s really going on at these closed-source companies,\u201d said Klivans.<\/p>\n Mill\u00e1n highlighted how UT\u2019s unique collaborative culture enables the University to lead in interdisciplinary fields such as embodied AI and robotics as well as build transformative resources for the community: The\u00a0University<\/a>\u2019<\/a>s emerging academic health system<\/a>\u00a0will include a state-of-the-art, digitally enabled hospital. \u201cWe have the possibility to start thinking about and start implementing how artificial intelligence, how robotics will be integrated into that future hospital,\u201d shared Mill\u00e1n.<\/p>\n Fleischmann spoke about considerations for the future of work, including government work and national security, and the importance of a people-centered and values-driven approach to AI adoption and use. \u201cThere\u2019s never been a more important time to question \u2014 what should we do?\u201d Fleischmann emphasized.<\/p>\n Stone, reflecting on the unique environment at UT where researchers propel scientific discovery and technological advancement while considering the ethical implications of their work and collaborating with colleagues in the humanities and social sciences, offered encouragement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The symposium addressed topical issues through interdisciplinary and cross-sector discourse, with programming that included panels and research presentations…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":214198,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":{"0":"post-214197","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-austin","8":"tag-austin","9":"tag-austin-headlines","10":"tag-austin-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}