Lecture: April 14: 12:30 pm (zoom)
Dr. Alessandra Buccella
Can AI be a scientist?
AI models are becoming incredibly powerful tools to analyze large bodies of scientific data. AI's success in detecting subtle patterns in data has opened new avenues to scientific discoveries, especially in fields like physical and chemistry, where the systems and phenomena being studied are so complex that no human would be able to observe them or make inferences about them without the help of advanced technologies. But does this mean that AI systems will eventually replace human scientists completely, or that science itself will soon become exclusively a matter of collecting and analyzing data? A closer look at scientific practice and how scientific knowledge is produced reveals that the answer can only be 'No'. The expertise, goals, and values of human scientists are what ultimately grounds and justifies everything AI tools are able to achieve.
Dr. Alessandra Buccella is an Assistant Professor in the Philosophy Department at the University at Albany – SUNY. More information: https://alessandrabuccella.com/
Zoom: https://virginiatech.zoom.us/s/81233889844
Workshop on teaching artificial intelligence, science, and infectious diseases: April 28, 2026
Note change in schedule start time
1:15: Introduction to the workshop: Tom Ewing
1:20-2:00: Panel 1
Yuba Gautam, “Challenges of artificial intelligence in public health education and promotion”
John Aggrey, “Desirable Difficulties and the Teaching of Infectious Diseases with AI"
2:00-2:05: Break
2:10-3:00: Panel 2
Eman A. M. Amer, “Structured Prompting and Evaluation of Prompts and AI Responses in Infectious Disease Using the AMERH Framework”
Micah Thomas, “Insect Taxonomic Sorting with Transfer Learning and Convolutional Neural Networks”
Tom Ewing, “Using Artificial Intelligence to Summarize Academic Studies”
3:00-3:15
Commentary, Alessandra Buccella
Further discussion
Presenters:
John Aggrey, Department of Science, Technology, and Society
Eman A. M. Amer, Educational Psychology, School of Education
Tom Ewing, Department of History
Yuba Gautam, Department of Population Health Sciences and Public Health Program
Binita Saha, Chemical Engineering (Tissue Engineering Lab), COMPASS Center
Micah Thomas, Department of Entomology