Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are increasingly impacting multiple domains of scholarship, and with the advent of widely-accessible Generative AI (GAI) tools we have exciting new opportunities for research and new pathways for knowledge. At Harvard we are exploring how GAI tools can open up new ways of teaching and learning, and how natural-language interactions with computational tools can provide improved access to quantitative methods for fields that have not traditionally been computer-intensive. As a rapidly moving disruptive technology, GAI poses significant opportunities and challenges that span the economic, regulatory, ethical, and societal domains and the FAS is committed to advancing those conversations across the full breadth of our community.
We hope that all members of the FAS community will join in this exploration and encourage you to engage with us. Contact generativeAI@fas.harvard.edu for more information.
A Message from Chris Stubbs
Chris Stubbs, Samuel C. Moncher Professor of Physics and of Astronomy, is Dean Hoekstra’s senior advisor on artificial intelligence. He is leading the charge to understand how we can best use Generative AI tools to enhance our ability to execute on the core research and teaching mission of the FAS.
FEATURED NEWS
Harvard professor uses AI to replicate himself for tutor experiment
Harvard professor Gregory Kestin is using AI to replicate himself as part of a tutoring experiment. NBC News’ Gadi Schwartz visits the university to talk to Kestin about what he hopes to gain from the process.
FEATURED EVENT SERIES
GAI Dialogues Series
The GAI Dialogues series is a multi-part discussion series to examine how Generative AI impacts FAS’s educational mission. This combines two FAS priorities—civil discourse and Generative AI. While the format will vary, this series is intended to present members of our community who have contrasting perspectives, with questions from the audience as a key element of the conversation.
Areas of Focus
At FAS we are in a unique position to explore the questions—and the challenges—that come with Generative Artificial Intelligence. Our community is full of brilliant thinkers, curious researchers, and knowledgeable scholars, all able to lend their variety of expertise to tackling the big questions that AI raises, from ethics to social implications.
AI & Research
Faculty Research &
AI Show-and-Tell
At the AI @ FAS Symposium, faculty
from a variety of disciplines shared
case studies of how they are
incorporating GAI into their research.
Want to make robots
more agile?
Scientists create realistic virtual
rodent with digital neural network to
study how brain controls complex, coordinated movement
New University-wide institute
to integrate natural, artificial intelligence
Initiative made possible by gift
from Priscilla Chan and
Mark Zuckerberg
AI & Teaching
FAS Generative AI
Faculty Show-and-Tell
Watch ways faculty are using the
latest GAI technology in the classroom.
AI & Society
AI @ FAS Symposium
The AI @ FAS Symposium brought the community together to learn about
faculty, staff, and students applying
AI innovatively
What is ‘original
scholarship’ in the
age of AI?
Symposium considers how
technology is changing academia
‘Harvard Thinking’:
Is AI friend or foe?
In podcast, a lawyer, computer
scientist, and statistician debate ethics of artificial intelligence
Upcoming Events
Past Events
In case you missed it…
- Harvard professor uses AI to replicate himself for tutor experiment
- Bot’s literary analysis wasn’t ‘brilliantly original’ — is that beside the point?
- FAS creates new professorships in civil discourse and AI
- Professor tailored AI tutor to physics course. Engagement doubled.
- A modern approach to teaching classics
Additional Resources
OpenAI ChatGPT Edu for FAS
As we continue to navigate the transformative landscape of generative AI, we are excited to now be able to offer ChatGPT Edu to members of the FAS for use in your Harvard work. This development is a significant step forward in the broader AI initiatives underway across FAS and in SEAS, which aim to harness the power of AI to enhance our shared teaching and research mission.
Harvard University Information Technology
Harvard University Information Technology (HUIT) compiled a webpage that contains guidelines, tools, news, and other resources about using generative AI at Harvard.
AI Sandbox (HUIT/FAS)
The AI Sandbox provides a “walled-off,” secure environment in which to experiment with Generative AI, mitigating many security and privacy risks and ensuring the data entered will not be used to train any public AI tools. It offers a single interface that enables access to seven different Large Language Models (LLM): Azure OpenAI GPT-3.5, GPT-3.5 16k, GPT-4, and GPT-4 32k; Anthropic Claude 2 and Instant; and Google PaLM 2 Bison. The AI Sandbox is approved for use with Medium Risk Confidential data (L3) and below. Before using the AI Sandbox, please review these guidelines and instructions.
Derek C. Bok Center for Teaching and Learning
For educators looking to navigate the landscape of generative AI in the classroom, the Bok Center offers valuable guidance on adapting teaching methods to address the challenges and opportunities it presents.
Resources for FAS Staff
Ismael Carreras, Associate Dean for Strategic Analysis for FAS Administration & Finance, discusses his use of generative AI models like ChatGPT and FAS AI Sandbox for tasks such as drafting documents, summarizing long texts, and creating visuals and code. He discusses one approach that highlights six components when crafting effective prompts to refine outputs, which helps the generative AI model produce useful, high-quality content.
Exploring Generative AI Administrative Applications
AI can be a valuable tool for completing various writing and data analysis tasks in the office. Learn more about the ways AI can be helpful for many tasks, such as drafting text like memos and emails, summarizing long documents, generating visuals and acronyms, and writing statistical code.
Writing Prompts for Generative AI
Writing effective prompts is important when using generative AI models to help generate and refine output. One strategy identifies six key components for crafting a good prompt: task, context, exemplars, persona, format, and tone.
AI @ Harvard
Harvard faculty, students, and scholars are doing cutting-edge research in data science, machine learning, modeling, data analysis, visualization, and ethics in fields spanning computer science, public health, medicine, law, public policy, business, the sciences, and more.