About AILA→
We aim to engage a broad, interdisciplinary community of participants in discussions and activities related to artificial intelligence, exploring and facilitating multi-way interactions between work in artificial intelligence and work across the liberal arts.
What is Artificial Intelligence, and how is it changing the world as we know it?
There has never been a better time to engage in critical conversation about the diverse applications of AI and to consider the repercussions of its use.
AILA is here to guide you toward scholarship, discussion, events, and other learning opportunities that are interdisciplinary and critically minded. We believe in the importance of asking big questions and thinking about these issues across disciplinary boundaries. Explore our library of:
- AI Ethics Discussion
- Tools and Resources
- Events to help learn and reflect
- AILA Newsletter
What We Do
Find out what is happening in AI now and how it may affect your interests. We provide a curated list of AI-related news articles!
Want to engage in conversations about Artificial Intelligence? Send us ideas for articles and comment on any of our blog posts to get the conversation started!
Want to learn about upcoming events and talks organized by us? Check out our upcoming and past events through our Events page!
Interested in how you can use Artificial Intelligence? Want to read up on blogs and tutorials about AI tools and more?
Coming Soon: What AI Means – A Podcast
AI in the Liberal Arts (AILA) is thrilled to announce the upcoming launch of What AI Means, a new podcast hosted by Amherst College Professor Lee Spector. We’ve been working hard to create this series, which explores artificial intelligence through the lens of the liberal arts.
What AI Means is the podcast that asks scholars and creators about the significance of artificial intelligence for the world as they see it, through the lenses of their disciplines and their expertise. Brought to you by Lee Spector, a professor of Computer Science at Amherst College and the Director of AI in the Liberal Arts.
What AI Means features short, accessible conversations with scholars, artists, scientists, and thought leaders across a wide range of fields. By posing a simple question, “What does AI mean?”, the podcast captures the richness and diversity of thought surrounding AI’s societal, ethical, artistic, and conceptual implications. The series aims to reach both academic and public audiences and to share perspectives from across the liberal arts.
Artificial Intelligence Book Club
The AI Book Club is brought to you by AILA and the Jones Library in Amherst and is supported by the Frost Library at Amherst College! We will meet monthly on Sunday afternoons to explore a mix of nonfiction and the occasional fiction book related to AI. Discussions will be led by AILA students and Amherst faculty, with opportunities for both in-person and online engagement. No technical background required, just curiosity and a willingness to think together. Open to the public! Borrow your copy from Jones or Frost Libraries.
All meetings will be held at 2pm in Pemberton Lounge, Chapin Hall (room 108) at Amherst College.
Dates this Spring:
- February 8th, 2026
- TBA
- TBA
- TBA
Email aila@amherst.edu to join the mailing list or for more information.
📚 Winter Break Reading Selection!
Over Winter Break, the AI Book Club will be reading God, Human, Animal, Machine: Technology, Metaphor, and the Search for Meaning by Meghan O’Gieblyn.
📍Next Meeting:
Sunday, February 8th @ 2pm
Pemberton Lounge, Chapin Hall (room 108) at Amherst College
Join the discussion on Padlet!
In 2024, Amherst College had the honor of hosting author, essayists, and deep-thinker, Meghan O’Gieblyn for a conversation with AILA founder, Lee Spector. Listen here to their conversation about some of the big questions raised in her book and by everyday life in the age of AI.
See our latest news below
Join us in critical conversation and learning at our next event!
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Coming Soon: What AI Means – A Podcast
AI in the Liberal Arts (AILA) is thrilled to announce the upcoming launch of What AI Means, a new podcast hosted by Amherst College Professor Lee Spector. We’ve been working hard to create this series, which explores artificial intelligence through the lens of the liberal arts. What AI Means is the podcast that asks scholars…
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December 16th, 2025
AILA wishes students the best of luck on finals! Upcoming Events Coming Soon: What AI Means – A Podcast AI in the Liberal Arts (AILA) is thrilled to announce the upcoming launch of What AI Means, a new podcast hosted by Amherst College Professor Lee Spector. We’ve been working hard to create this series, which explores artificial intelligence through…
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AI Book Club: Winter Break Book Selection!
Join the AI Book Club in reading God, Human, Animal, Machine: Technology, Metaphor, and the Search for Meaning by Meghan O’Gieblyn over winter break! We will meet in February to discuss the book in Pemberton Lounge with snacks and engaging conversation. Date TBA! Email: aila@amherst.edu to join the mailing list or for questions about the…
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AI Book Club Meeting: 12.14.25
December’s selection is “Seventy-Two Letters,” a novella by Ted Chiang, from the collection Stories of Your Life and Others. This story is set in an alternate history, Victorian-era England where people can animate automata called golems by speaking names into objects. It explores the intersection of religion, science, and alternative history, particularly the idea of creating artificial life…
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Thank you, Daniel Flores Garcia (’24)!
AILA welcomed Amherst College alumnus Daniel Flores Garcia (‘24) back to campus for a richly engaging talk on AI and Music, exploring how technological innovation is reshaping musical tools, creative processes, and cultural representation in music. Flores Garcia, whose work centers on generative systems for rhythm and percussion, opened by tracing a lineage of music-making…
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December 2nd, 2025
AILA hopes you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Upcoming Events We have exciting news: COMING SOON…What AI Means — An (AILA) Podcast COMING SOON… …What AI Means, the podcast that asks scholars and creators about the significance of artificial intelligence for the world as they see it, through the lenses of their disciplines and their expertise. Brought…
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Alumni Speaker Series: Daniel Flores Garcia ’24
Date: December 4, 2025Time: 5:00 PMLocation: CHI Think Tank in the Aliki Perroti and Seth Frank Lyceum Join us for an exciting Alumni Speaker Series event featuring Daniel Flores Garcia ’24, who will present: Musicking with Generative Models As generative AI tools for music become increasingly capable, autonomous, and accessible, how can artists work with…
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November 25th, 2025
AILA wishes you a restful & joyous Thanksgiving! Upcoming Events We have exciting news: COMING SOON…What AI Means — An (AILA) Podcast COMING SOON… …What AI Means, the podcast that asks scholars and creators about the significance of artificial intelligence for the world as they see it, through the lenses of their disciplines and their…
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Recap: 2025 Hack the Herd – AI & Sustainability Hackathon
By: Caitlin Kennedy Downey This year’s Hack the Herd: AI & Sustainability Hackathon brought together an impressive group of about 20 student innovators from Amherst College, Smith College, and UMass Amherst for an intensive, collaborative, and high-energy weekend of problem-solving and creation. Over the course of 24 hours, students worked in teams of up to…