2025 AILA Undergraduate Conference: Exploring the Intersection of AI in the Arts, Humanities, and Beyond
ABSTRACT SUBMISSIONS ARE CLOSED. But please join us for the conference on Saturday, April 19, 2025.
Conference Details
Date: Saturday, April 19th, 2025
Location: Aliki Perrotti and Seth Frank Lyceum, Amherst College
Format: This is an in-person conference located in Amherst, MA
The annual AILA Undergraduate Conference is a presentation of thesis research and a collection of workshops focused on AI across a broad range of disciplines. This year we will hear about research being done in AI on Amherst College campus and surrounding colleges and universities. Please join us!
Conference Schedule:
2025 Conference Highlights
- Plenary sessions featuring student research that pushes the boundaries of AI.
- Career workshops to navigate the evolving landscape of AI and its myriad opportunities.
- Poster sessions for accepted students to share their research and gain feedback
- Roundtable discussions to foster dialogue on the interdisciplinary impacts of AI.
Keynote Speaker
We are honored to announce Lee Spector, a distinguished member of the Amherst College faculty, as our keynote speaker. Professor Lee Spector is the Class of 1993 Professor of Computer Science at Amherst College. He received a B.A. in Philosophy from Oberlin College in 1984, and a Ph.D. from the Department of Computer Science at the University of Maryland in 1992. Dr. Spector teaches and conducts research in artificial intelligence, artificial life, and a variety of areas at the intersections of computer science with cognitive science, physics, evolutionary biology, and the arts. He has also directed the AI in the Liberal Arts initiative since 2020. Spector created the initiative to build an interdisciplinary community of people interested in thinking deeply about the bigger questions related to our lives and work in this new era of artificial intelligence.
Contact Us
For any inquiries or further information, please feel free to reach out to our organizing committee at aila@amherst.edu.
Call for Abstracts – CLOSED
Our call is broad and inclusive, welcoming interdisciplinary AI projects of all kinds, especially those that approach bold questions about AI’s relevance to fields traditionally not associated with computer science. Whether your experience in independent research stems from a class project, an independent paper, or a thesis project, we invite your participation. We are particularly interested in projects that are innovative, nearing completion, and challenge the status quo of ideas about applying AI.
Suggested topics might include (but are not limited to):
- Ethical considerations of AI
- AI Alignment
- Innovative uses of AI in the Biological Sciences
- AI and Issues of Intellectual Property and Authorship
- Privacy and Security Issues relating to AI
- Artificial Consciousness
- Social or cultural considerations of AI
- And More!
Submission Guidelines
- We require a 250-word abstract detailing your core research question, methodology, findings, and significance.
- While full papers are not mandatory for submission, we have a preference for projects that are further along in their research journey. Feel free to submit any materials you may have
- Email your abstracts to aila@amherst.edu by Sunday, April 12.
- Submission and participation in the conference is free!
Important Dates
- Abstract Submission Deadline: Sunday, April 12th
- Conference Date: Saturday, April 19th