Milner Library, in partnership with the Julia N. Visor Center, is excited to invite the Illinois State campus community to two events discussing artificial intelligence and its impact on student success.

Dr. Alex Hanna will deliver her talk, “The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want,” in anticipation of her upcoming book in a virtual event on Tuesday, March 18 at 6 p.m. via Zoom (registration link). Hanna will delve into the promises being made by technology companies about these tools and the strategies participants can use to evaluate those claims. She will help develop critical questions about the future uses and misuses of these technologies so that users can approach AI responsibly in the future.

Our second speaker is Dr. Kahyun Choi who will give a talk on “Responsible AI for Poetry Analysis: Toward Equitable and Diverse Digital Libraries.” Dr. Choi is an assistant professor of library and information science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. This in-person event will be held in the southwest corner of Milner’s sixth floor at 2 p.m. on Thursday, March 27. Choi will present on her current project developing an AI model to understand and organize poetry collections. This curated tool will make it easier for users to discover poetry from underrepresented populations and include the ability to search for poetry using more sophisticated categories, like theme or emotion. Participants will get a look through the lens of an information professional into the development of this technology and the ethical questions that present themselves during the process.

Both events are part of a larger project sponsored by Milner Library and the Julia N. Visor Center, “Minds and Machines: the Synergy of AI and Student Success,” focused on facilitating workshops to cultivate a space and a critical lens for students to explore the ethical and responsible uses of AI technologies in coursework, research, and while on the job market. Both speakers will continue these and other conversations happening campus-wide and emphasize the revolutionary nature of artificial intelligence while challenging the parameters of conventional discourse surrounding possibilities, limitations, and our understanding of real-world applications of this technology.

If you need an accommodation to fully participate in this event or have any questions about events at Milner Library, contact Director of Marketing and Communications Michelle Neuffer.