In early Sept., Vanderbilt launched the Enterprise AI and Computing Innovation Studio to bring together undergraduates, graduate students and staff to further AI-related research by developing project-based solutions using artificial intelligence tools. The initiative is a collaboration between Vanderbilt University Information Technology (VUIT) and the Amplify Generative AI Innovation Center and is housed within the Data Science Institute (DSI).
The studio represents a way for students to get involved in AI-related research projects that span a variety of issues and areas of the university, offering students the opportunity to gain hands-on professional experience and collaborate with students across divisions and faculty in the field of AI.
Jesse Spencer-Smith, interim director and chief data scientist of the Data Science Institute, said the studio was developed so students would have the opportunity to solve real-world problems with the university’s proprietary AI framework, Amplify.
“With the advent of AI and AI-assisted coding and agents, we had an opportunity to really revolutionize the way that we solve problems within the university,” Spencer-Smith said. “This is a program that provides additional background [and] additional training to students to allow them to participate in real-world solving of problems using the most cutting-edge AI tools.”
Spencer-Smith also said that after students have completed an initial training, they will be partnered with more experienced students on projects.
“We’re going to start having a pool of students that have completed training so [that] they know about agents, they understand the basic workings of AI [and] they know the Amplify framework,” Spencer-Smith said. “[They will be] actually skilled in these areas enough so they can be partnered with someone who’s more skilled, maybe one of our staff data scientists [or] Gen AI engineers to partner with, to actually participate in the creation of these solutions.”
First-year student Anikait Rawat, a computer science and economics double-major, believes the creation of the Enterprise AI and Computing Innovation Studio will help inspire him and give him new opportunities.
“When I first heard Vanderbilt was launching the AI Studio, I honestly felt inspired and motivated because it showed me that the university is really investing in giving students hands-on access to cutting-edge technology and a chance to be part of shaping how AI develops,” Rawat said in an email to The Hustler.
Rawat added that the studio will help him prepare for his intended career in technology, discovery and business strategy.
“The chance to work in Vanderbilt’s Enterprise AI and Computing Innovation Studio will help me build strong technical skills but also push me to think critically about the ethical and economic side of AI,” Rawat said. “[That is] exactly the kind of balanced perspective I want as I move toward a career at the intersection of technology, innovation and business strategy.”
First-year Ph.D. student Yuling Zhu sees the studio as an opportunity to learn how to connect AI with scientific discovery.
“What excites me most is that Vanderbilt can combine AI with biology and science, because I’m a [biomedical engineering] student,” Zhu said. “I’m excited to see the future of using AI tools to solve science problems, especially biomedical problems.”
Zhu added that the studio will aid her professional development as biomedical fields continue to adopt AI-driven approaches.
“In most industries, people are already using deep learning methods like graph models to solve biological questions,” Zhu said. “This experience will give me the tools to approach biomedical problems with AI, and that’s definitely a good path forward.”
Students can get involved with the studio through personal outreach or by participating in programming with the Data Science Institute. Spencer-Smith said that anyone interested in working on projects or learning about the studio’s work should reach out to the center or stop by the Data Science Institute and participate in workshops.
“You can come [to the center] with project ideas or questions, or you can just be a fly on the wall and listen to other people’s questions,” Spencer-Smith said. “We have opportunities for you to learn, grow and begin to apply these ideas. AI is a fast-moving field. It can be scary [and] disconcerting, but you have resources here to learn and to understand, so I would encourage everyone to take advantage of those.”