The development of AI at its current level of capability marks a remarkable technological achievement—not the product of a single discipline or a few years of work, but the culmination of decades of scientific, mathematical, and technological progress. Its capabilities invite wonder, particularly because of their potential to expand what people and institutions can accomplish.
For example, generative AI is accelerating the discovery and design of new medicines, while also offering opportunities to move toward more personalized education that better serves neurodiverse and nontraditional learners. Yet we do not know the full reach of AI, how it will evolve, or all the consequences it will have for individuals, institutions, professions, and society. We must also recognize the potential for negative impacts and work together to understand and address them.
That combination of extraordinary possibility and profound uncertainty demands careful study, open inquiry, and thoughtful judgment. Uncertainty is not a reason to disengage. It is precisely why we must approach AI with earnest inquiry—not adopt it simply because we are amazed by its capabilities, nor reject it simply because its consequences are uncertain or because we feel powerless to shape them.
Inquiry, rather than assumption, should guide how we embrace, shape, and use AI so that this technology can be applied responsibly and ethically to drive meaningful impact and advance UConn’s mission.
That is the purpose of AI for ImpaCT.
To help advance this work, the Provost’s Office convened an AI Council of faculty, staff, students, and leaders from across the University. The Council was intentionally designed to bring together individuals with diverse viewpoints, backgrounds, and areas of expertise from across UConn’s schools, colleges, campuses, disciplines, and functions.
I am grateful to have been asked to lead the Council and to serve as Special Advisor to the Provost on Artificial Intelligence. I take this responsibility with humility and a sincere commitment to listen, learn, work collaboratively, and help UConn navigate this moment thoughtfully.
Throughout the summer, the full Council and a smaller Executive Committee have met to begin shaping our direction. Those conversations have made clear that the work ahead is both complex and urgent, requiring humility, care, and a commitment to UConn’s future.
There are genuine differences of opinion about AI, and valid perspectives can sometimes be at odds. We do not have all the answers. Through extensive discussion and careful listening, we are working respectfully and thoughtfully to understand the challenges, navigate these differences, and identify a responsible path forward.
These conversations have also reinforced something important: this work cannot belong to a few people or a single unit. It must draw on the expertise, questions, ideas, and perspectives of the broader UConn community.
With that in mind, I want to share how we have organized our work, some of what is already underway, and what comes next.
Our Charge
The AI Council will serve as UConn’s primary university-wide consultative and coordinating body on artificial intelligence. Consistent with UConn’s commitment to shared governance, our role is not to replace the expertise or decision-making authority that resides within our schools, colleges, campuses, the University Senate, or administrative units.
Instead, we aim to connect perspectives from across the University, identify issues that cross organizational boundaries, facilitate collaboration, surface opportunities and concerns, and provide thoughtful guidance as UConn makes decisions about AI.
Our conversations have underscored the need for a coherent vision that clarifies where we want to direct our efforts and how we want to position UConn for the future. To that end, the AI Executive Committee, the full AI Council, and University leadership are developing an initial Vision and Strategic Framework for AI for ImpaCT. This document will provide a starting point for meaningful action, helping guide our focus and advance UConn’s mission while remaining open to refinement as our understanding evolves. It is being shaped by input from across our community and informed by best practices and lessons we are learning from across higher education.
Four Areas of Focus
We have organized the Council’s work around four connected domains, each led by a member of the Executive Committee. These areas are intentionally interconnected, and one of the Council’s most important roles will be to ensure that these conversations do not occur in isolation.
Responsible AI, Risk, and Community Trust — Anna Mae Duane
This area will focus on helping UConn make thoughtful and responsible choices about AI, including questions of ethics, governance, risk, fairness, human agency, transparency, and community trust.
The work will be led by Anna Mae Duane, Professor of English and Director of the UConn Humanities Institute, whose scholarship and interdisciplinary work examine culture, rights, justice, language, and the human experience.
Education, Academic Programs, and Workforce Readiness — Amit Savkar
This area will focus on what students should learn about AI, how AI should shape teaching and learning, what academic opportunities UConn should develop, and how we prepare students, faculty, and staff for an AI-enabled world.
The work will be led by Amit Savkar, Professor-in-Residence in Mathematics and Director of UConn’s Quantitative Learning Center, whose work spans mathematics education, learning innovation, student support, curriculum development, and educational outcomes.
Research, Scholarship, and Innovation — Derek Aguiar
This area will focus on both advancing research in AI itself and enabling faculty across disciplines to use AI to accelerate discovery, scholarship, and innovation.
The work will be led by Derek Aguiar, Associate Professor in UConn’s School of Computing, whose research spans probabilistic and statistical machine learning, AI, and algorithms with a focus on computational genomics and biomedical applications.
Institutional Tools, Infrastructure, and Implementation — Arash Zaghi
This area will focus on the tools, infrastructure, capabilities, and implementation approaches UConn needs to use AI effectively and responsibly at institutional scale.
The work will be led by Arash Zaghi, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, whose work brings together AI, engineering education, personalized and adaptive learning, and neurodiversity.
What Comes Next
There is much more work ahead.
We are developing a university-wide AI for ImpaCT website that will bring together information about the Council, educational opportunities, research and scholarship, guidance and resources, events, and other AI-related activity across UConn.
I am also planning open forums where students, faculty, and staff can hear directly from the Council, ask questions, raise concerns, and contribute ideas. We will have more information available soon.
Additionally, we are working toward providing access and training for the entire University community. To get us started, we worked with ITS to document the AI tools already available to our community.
Most importantly, we intend for this to be an ongoing conversation with the University community. AI is moving too quickly—and its implications for universities are too broad—for this work to happen behind closed doors. We will communicate regularly about what the Council is learning, what we are considering, what progress is being made, and where members of the UConn community can contribute.
There will be difficult questions ahead. There will also be extraordinary opportunities. UConn has the chance not simply to respond to the changes AI is creating, but to study them carefully, shape our response thoughtfully, and help determine how AI can best advance education, research, our University, and the communities we serve.
I look forward to working with all of you.
Best,
David Bergman
Special Advisor to the Provost on Artificial Intelligence