Tomorrow’s AI Summit
Dear members of the Columbia community,
Tomorrow, across all three of our northern Manhattan campuses, we will be hosting an AI Summit. The daylong series of events will bring together our University community and distinguished guests to discuss the role of artificial intelligence in today’s society and in creating the future we hope to build. While we and many other research universities are facing significant external challenges, our commitment to advance our mission has never been more important. No university in the world is better equipped than Columbia to take on the essential and timely subject of artificial intelligence, and I am immensely proud of the sustained effort and energy that has been dedicated to producing tomorrow’s programming. Although we cannot know the precise contours of future discoveries that will owe some measure of their progress to tomorrow’s discussions, I have no doubt that Columbia stands at the forefront of this transformation.
For society at large, AI offers unprecedented opportunities in disease prediction, climate modeling, robotics, and finance, among many other areas. For educational institutions, including Columbia, AI drives a rethinking of many core functions, from teaching and learning to scientific discovery and basic administrative operations. For our artistic community, AI raises profound philosophical questions about its use in creating visual art, composing music, producing fiction, and providing literary analysis. And, of course, the value of this burgeoning technological prowess must be considered along with the important societal questions, including its impact on energy consumption, employment, and democratic engagement. As always, universities will lead in discussions about the ethics, fairness, and safety of the future we are building.
The most consequential modern academic research relies upon multidisciplinary collaboration. Yet, even with this acknowledgment, the scope of intellectual engagement required for developing and responsibly harnessing AI marks a paradigm shift in the primacy of innovative partnerships at Columbia. Virtually all of Columbia’s schools are participating in tomorrow’s Summit. The sessions span from structured discussions asking what technical frontiers will emerge, to whether machines will have free will, to how AI can address the climate crisis, to how labor and leadership will be affected, to opportunities to improve mental health and advance cancer research.
With deepest thanks to Columbia Engineering Dean Shih-Fu Chang, Executive Vice President for Research Jeannette Wing, Data Science Institute Director Garud Iyengar, and all session organizers for bringing the Summit to life, I encourage you to participate in these discussions, whether at the events tomorrow or through the many opportunities for engagement that will occur during the months to come.
Even as we commit to leading the profound transformation that AI is bringing to our society, we must remember the incomparable power of the human mind to look beyond the data that currently exist, the knowledge of today, and the questions that have already been asked. It is in this space—the space that seeks to create a future that no machine can imagine, that can simultaneously see humanity and algorithms, beauty and functionality—where Columbia will continue to flourish.
All my best,
Katrina Armstrong
Interim President, Columbia University in the City of New York