Brandon K. Baker, Penn Today
In a packed auditorium at the recently opened Amy Gutmann Hall, Penn community members—deans, faculty, students, administrators, and beyond—gathered to formally launch the Penn AI Initiative and Penn’s role during this technological inflection point.
Attendees were welcomed by Provost John L. Jackson Jr., who raised the “promise” of AI but also its “potential peril,” noting the importance for Penn to be a leader in AI research. He went on to acknowledge Penn’s unique position—and precedent—as the home of the first general purpose computer.
“Penn has always been at the forefront of some of the newest technology,” Jackson said. “Our focus on interdisciplinary education and research means that we are, I think, uniquely positioned to both understand and advance artificial intelligence, which will touch every aspect of academic life and virtually every single human endeavor.”
Jackson recognized Penn’s undergraduate degree in AI, offered as the first in the Ivy League, through the School of Engineering & Applied Science, while also applauding the “spectacular new building” as a resource for the Penn community. Amy Gutmann Hall houses collaborations in data science between all 12 schools.
“Why should Penn, and In Principle and Practice, highlight AI as one of the pillars to focus on?” he questioned.
Jameson went on to elaborate the University’s need to stay relevant to an advancement that will impact every sector of society, while also emphasizing the “breadth and connectivity” that make universities even better positioned than private industry to ask different kinds of questions and in a more interdisciplinary, dynamic way.
“We want to be relevant, but we’ve also got access to connectivity that just doesn’t exist [in industry],” Jameson said, comparing to how universities conduct medical research. “We’re in front of patients, we’ve got colleagues who do clinical trials, and there’s a bi-directional flow of information. So, this is a critical part of the interwoven nature at the University of Pennsylvania that is literally exemplified in this building, Amy Gutmann Hall.”