AI Plus Symposium Examines Tech's Impact on Education
ALBANY, N.Y. (March 12, 2026) — Over three days last weekend, more than 250 people gathered at UAlbany to wrestle with how artificial intelligence is impacting the future of education — and society more broadly.
UAlbany's inaugural AI Plus Symposium featured interactive demonstrations of new technologies and thoughtful conversations on pressing issues like the role of libraries in helping the public engage with AI, how AI can be best used for teaching and how to responsibly deploy it in research.
In addition to keynotes from thought leaders in AI research, education, ethics and technology, dozens of UAlbany students and faculty showcased how they're using AI in their work — including how they're helping teachers reflect on the effectiveness of their lessons and providing guided feedback and training on how to intervene to prevent bullying.
Watch WTEN's coverage of the AI Plus Symposium's first day, or read the Times Union's coverage of how students at UAlbany are using AI to better detect fake news coverage generated by gaming engines, study for their college courses using only trustworthy source material and help people recover from injuries or illness with VR physical therapy.
View the full photo gallery from the weekend.
The symposium was an outgrowth of UAlbany's broader AI Plus initiative, which began four years ago as an effort to infuse thinking about AI and access to the advanced AI supercomputing across the University's research enterprise while ambitiously developing AI-focused coursework and micro-credentials, such as the new minor on the ethics and philosophy of AI, available to students in every major.
Last year, with the support of SUNY, UAlbany launched a new AI & Society College and AI & Society Research Center to focus on curriculum development and assembling interdisciplinary research teams exploring themes like resilience, solidarity, connection, imagination and flourishing in the context of AI’s broader role in shaping human experience.