Featured AI Events
Emotional Intelligence and Human Identity at the Dawn of AI Networks
Monday, February 17, 2025 5:15-6:15 p.m.
Smith College Klingenstein Browsing Room
*Open to the Public
GenAI researcher Katherine Elkins presents the latest developments in AI capabilities, highlighting both the challenges and opportunities for human flourishing. Drawing on her work at the US AI Safety Institute, the IBM/Notre Dame Tech Ethics Lab, and Meta’s Open Innovation AI Research Community (OIAIRC), she outlines how agentic behavior, reasoning, and emotional intelligence upend previous notions of human exceptionalism.
She is a leading voice on generative AI and its ethical implications for society. A professor at Kenyon College, she co-created one of the first human-centered AI curricula and pioneered methods for analyzing emotional patterns in narrative.
AI in the Archives: Exploring Family History with Cutting-Edge Technology
Wednesday, February 5th from 10 to 11 a.m.
Frost Library (Barker Room)
*Open to the Public
Learn about AI-powered tools to transcribe historical documents, save time and effort with automated tasks, generate research leads by uncovering new clues and potential connections by analyzing vast datasets, craft compelling family narratives using AI-assisted tools and more! Join Nicka Sewell-Smith, genealogist, for this engaging conversation.
Introducing Amherst Connect!
Amherst Connect started with a simple goal: making it easier for everyone on campus to stay connected. The idea came from the frustration of not having one central place to find out what’s happening at Amherst. While the Daily Mammoth, the Hub, and other sources provide valuable information, they’re scattered and inconsistent. We wanted to change that by creating a single platform to bring everything together.
Amherst Connect is designed to be the one-stop hub for all campus events. It brings together information from multiple sources and displays it in real-time on a user-friendly map, a weekly calendar, and even a stats dashboard that highlights popular locations and times. With filters for location, time, and event type, it’s easy to find activities that match your interests.
This was developed by the engineering team of Ideas 2 Innovation, a growing venture accelerator at Amherst.
Featured AI News
It’s hard to keep up with all the AI-related News these days, but here are a couple stories that have us thinking and discussing. Let us know what AI News stories have you riveted!
DeepSeek sparks cascade of AI updates and data security concerns
On January 20, DeepSeek, a one-year-old Chinese startup, launched its R1 model said to rival OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The model, built by mostly recent college grads, was able to achieve a high level of performance with significantly lower costs and labor. This sent a shock wave that shook up the AI world. US stocks suffered a nearly 1 trillion dollar loss last week, with top AI chip company Nvidia loosing nearly $600 billion in market value last Monday.
The launch of DeepSeek R1 also pushed may other technology companies into action. This past week, Alibaba, one of most notable tech companies in China, launched a new version its language model Qwen, US nonprofit Allen Institute for AI announced an update to its language model Tulu, and OpenAI unveiled a new ChatGPT feature that is said to act and reason like an research analyst.
As DeepSeek rose to the forefront of media attention, so has concerns about its implications on data security. As a Chinese company, any data DeepSeek collects is viable to be shared with the Chinese government. This has raised many concerns of the language model’s ability to collect query patterns and analyze information about US markets and industries.
How was the previously nameless Chinese startup able to turn the AI world around in a week? Did DeepSeek just open yet another Pandora’s box of AI development? Will AI’s increased replacement of human labor come even sooner than we expected?
AILA will be hosting an event next Tuesday, 2/11/25, where our student assistants and others Amherst College computer science students will be thinking through these questions and giving you a quick run-down of DeepSeek. Come join the discussion in xxx next week!
Tightening immigration & winning the AI race: is it one or the other?
“It is the policy of the United States to sustain and enhance America’s global AI dominance in order to promote human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security,” states the presidential executive order on AI issued on January 23. However, this would be challenging if the administration does not create policies that attract and retain international talent. A National Foundation for American Policy study showed that immigrants make up nearly 65% of US’s top AI companies. With the recent MAGA debates on H1B (work visa allowing US employers to hire foreign nationals in specialty occupations) restrictions, Trump has taken an increasingly harsh stance on the employment policies for skilled immigrants.
It seems as though the AI race and restrictions on immigration cannot move forward together. With Chinese companies such as DeepSeek threatening the US’s lead in AI development, which will the administration prioritize?
Don’t forget to check out some of our latest blog posts and leave your comments and reflections to keep the conversation going!
AILA Recommended Read
Looking for a new read? Here are some recommendations from the AILA staff of novels that might give you a new perspective on Artificial Intelligence.
News
This has been such a news-filled week for the AI community and we couldn’t possibly have mentioned it all. Here are some more articles across fields of AI we think might be worth your time:
NHS to launch world’s biggest trial of AI breast cancer diagnosis
OpenAI Unveils A.I. Tool That Can Do Research Online
DeepSeek Undermines Robust Earnings And Economic Growth
EU kicks off landmark AI law enforcement as first batch of restrictions enter into force
Featured AI Tool
Our AI Mentorship and Tools team is always exploring new applications of AI. Here we feature some of our favorites. Please explore these tools freely with your personal account, but be mindful of bias, accuracy, content ownership, and use of personally identifiable information with these tools. Institutions are evaluating the use and configuration of AI-based tools, so please check with your IT department before using these tools with college or institutional systems or data.
| Teal is an AI-powered resume builder that helps refine and optimize resumes. Teal lets you import a job description, and it then tailors your resume by suggesting key skills and experience you might want to highlight. It can ensure your resume is tailored for the position without much extra work. Teal also provided real-time feedback on the resume, with things like “add more measurable achievements” or “use more action verbs.” There are a couple of things that could be better. A few of the suggested phrases felt too generic and didn’t fully capture the nuances. You’d need to tweak some of them to better reflect your personal contributions. |
The Artificial Intelligence in the Liberal Arts initiative at Amherst College aims 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. Our newsletter contains the latest AI-related events, tools, scholarship, and news in AI.