AILA hopes you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Upcoming Events
We have exciting news:
COMING SOON…What AI Means — An (AILA) Podcast
COMING SOON…
…What AI Means, the podcast that asks scholars and creators about the significance of artificial intelligence for the world as they see it, through the lenses of their disciplines and their expertise.
Brought to you by Lee Spector, a professor of Computer Science at Amherst College and the Director of AI in the Liberal Arts.
December Reading Selection Announced!
We’re excited to share that this month’s AI Book Club pick is “Seventy-Two Letters,” a novella by Ted Chiang, from the collection Stories of Your Life and Others. As promised, this month’s selection is a bit shorter with all the holiday plans that folks have coming up.
This story is set in an alternate history, Victorian-era England where people can animate automata called golems by speaking names into objects. It explores the intersection of religion, science, and alternative history, particularly the idea of creating artificial life and humanity’s potential role in its own evolution and extinction.
You can find the online discussion platform here on Padlet.
Next Book Club Meeting:
December 14th @ 2 pm
Pemberton Lounge in Chapin Hall
Amherst College
You will be able to sign out copies of the Winter Break Selection on site!
Professors Dole (Religion) and Spector (Computer Science) will be joining us!
Please feel free to reach out to the Book Club team with any of your thoughts, questions, and feedback. We look forward to reading your reflections on Padlet and seeing you on campus, in town, and on December 14th @ 2pm!
Alumni Speaker Series: Daniel Flores Garcia ’24
December 4, 2025 | 5:00 PM | CHI Think Tank
The Alumni Speaker Series continues this semester with its third visiting alum, Daniel Flores Garcia ’24, who will join us on December 4th for a talk titled “Musicking with Generative Models.” As generative AI tools for music grow more capable and accessible, new creative possibilities come with new questions. Daniel’s talk will explore how artists can collaborate with AI instruments and co-creative systems while still maintaining artistic agency. Drawing from his work in music, improvisation, and sound experimentation, he will guide us through emerging ways of engaging with generative technologies in musical practice.
The conversation will be moderated by Ravi Krishnaswami, a visiting Professor at Amherst College for AI and Music, as well as current Amherst student Jessica Strauss (‘27),/ who worked for Krishnaswami testing cutting-edge AI music platforms.
We hope you’ll join us for this exciting event as we welcome Daniel back to campus! And stay tuned to find out which alumni will be visiting in the spring! Food and refreshments will be provided!
Have Something to Say About AI?
AILA is accepting submissions of opinion or scholarly pieces to be published on our website! The prompt? There is none. Whatever field you are in and however AI is on your mind right now, if you have the urge to say something, then contact us aila@amherst.edu.
Explore Some AI Tools!
Our AI Mentorship and Tools team is always exploring new applications of AI. Access some interesting tools from our website below and explore them freely from with your personal account. 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.
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.