Events

The application deadline for the Hackathon is on Wednesday, 10.12.25 at 11:59pm. Teams of 1-4. One registration per team! This year’s hackathon is hosted by the AI in the Liberal Arts Program (AILA), Office of Sustainability, and Idea 2 Innovation Venture Accelerator. It will take place from November 15th – 16th, and the challenge areas…

Join us monthly on Sunday afternoons at Amherst College to explore nonfiction (and the occasional fiction) on AI. Discussions, led by AILA staff, students and guest faculty, will also continue online. Borrow your copy from Jones or Frost Libraries and be part of the conversation. Email: aila@amherst.edu to join the mailing list or for more…

Facing the Algorithm: AI in Police Reports and Its Impact on the Criminal Justice System AILA will host Robert Thies, Investigator, Federal Public Defender, on November 11th, 2025 at 5pm for a virtual talk on Zoom. You are welcome to join us in the Science Center, room E208 for a virtual screening of the talk!…

Join us for a movie screening this Thursday, November 6th @ 8pm in the Keefe Theater. The AI Film Club brings the Amherst community together for screenings of movies that explore artificial intelligence and machine learning. We show a range of films from speculative science fiction to documentaries about real-world innovations. Each screening is followed…

Boba will be provided! Join us for an engaging exploration of how AI is transforming the way we search for information! The AI in the Liberal Arts initiative at Amherst College invites you to a peer-led discussion on AI-powered search technologies. Student leaders from i2i, Liam Davis and Ryan Ji, will guide an interactive conversation exploring…

Hack the Herd: Sustainability Hackathon — November 15th & 16th As achieving sustainability becomes the primary goal of our generation, this year’s Hack the Herd invites teams to harness AI-driven solutions to campus sustainability challenges.  Over the span of 24 hrs, you and your friends will build and pitch a project that tackles the complex…

How a Liberal Arts education inspired bold innovation! Join AILA in welcoming Amherst alumnus Ahmed Aly, founder of Vship, for a conversation on how a Liberal Arts education inspired bold innovation in the age of artificial intelligence. Ahmed will share his journey from studying political science and computer science at Amherst to building AI systems that empower…

CHI Think Tank, Lyceum 101 Matteo Pasquinelli discusses his book, The Eye of the Master (Verso Books, 2023). About the book: A “social” history of AI that finally reveals its roots in the spatial computation of industrial factories and the surveillance of collective behaviour. What is AI? A dominant view describes it as the quest “to solve intelligence” –…

Artificial Intelligence is rapidly reshaping the sustainability landscape — from streamlining ESG reporting to uncovering hidden risks and scaling real impact. Join us for AI in Action: Practical Tools for Corporate Sustainability Impact to discover how AI can be applied ethically and effectively to advance your organization’s goals. Featuring Dr. Panos Panagiotakopoulos, a leading voice at the intersection…

AILA Alumni Speaker Series Our first speaker is presented by AI in the Liberal Arts (AILA) and the Sustainability Office on October 20th at 5pm in the CHI Think Tank AILA and the Sustainability Office will host Will Fishell (’22) as the first guest in the AILA Alumni Speaker Series! His talk, “AI in the…

We’re thrilled to announce the AI in Sustainability Hackathon for the 2025–2026 academic year will be held on November 15th and 16th. Brought to you by AI in the Liberal Arts (AILA) and the Sustainability Office, this event invites students from all disciplines to explore how artificial intelligence can drive solutions for a more sustainable…

This October, the AI Book Club will be reading Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI by Ethan Mollick. Written in a lively and accessible style, Co-Intelligence explores how artificial intelligence is already reshaping the way we live, learn, and work. Mollick combines practical insight with big-picture questions, making this book the perfect starting point for…

A Conversation with Art Lawyer Kate Lucas Since its founding, the United States has recognized the importance of copyright law—but is copyright law ready for the new world of AI?  Art lawyer Kate Lucas will give an overview of how the rise of artificial intelligence is prompting (pun intended) new conversations—and litigation—about some of the…