Generative AI in the Wild

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Tuesday, June 4, 2024 12:00 pm

How do we work through the extreme excitement, confusion, and fear that result from the rapid evolution of generative AI to understand and embrace these tools across the arts and humanities?

The third event in The New AI series where we discuss what’s happening in the world of AI with cutting edge thought leaders is another step in our journey of understanding the opportunities and challenges of AI with the goal of empowering ourselves to be stewards of, rather than victims of, these new technologies and these new changes. While universities are often criticized for being slow to recognize the pulse of society and the speed at which technology changes in the for-profit sector, the University of Notre Dame is leading the way with a new course called Generative AI in the Wild. John Behrens ’83 and Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal, the Notre Dame professors who co-teach the class talk with Jack Slattery ‘24 and Ahana Sood ’21, ’24 M.A., who are both Notre Dame seniors and students of the first Generative AI in the Wild class, about the challenges, surprises, and takeaways of this groundbreaking course.

The New AI is sponsored on ThinkND by the Technology and Digital Studies Program in the College of Arts & Letters.  This program collaborates with the Computer Science and Engineering Department and other departments around the University to offer the Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science, the Minor in Data Science, and the Idzik Computing & Digital Technologies Minor.

Featured Speakers: 

• John Behrens ‘83 is a Professor of the Practice of Technology & Digital Studies and Concurrent Professor of the Practice in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. He serves as Director of the Office of Digital Strategy in the College of Arts & Letters and Director of the Technologies & Digital Studies Program.
• Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal, Ruth and Paul Idzik Collegiate Assistant Professor of Digital Scholarship and English, Concurrent Assistant Professor, Department of Film, Television, and Theatre; Affiliate, Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society; Affiliate, Notre Dame Initiative on Race and Resilience; Affiliate, Idzik Computing and Digital Technologies Program; Affiliate, Notre Dame Technology Ethics Center; Affiliate, the Program in History and Philosophy of Science
• Jack Slattery ’24, University of Notre Dame senior student majoring in finance in the Mendoza College of Business with a Minor in Computing and Digital Technology
• Ahana Sood ’21, ’24 M.A., received her masters degree in English at the University of Notre Dame and graduated in May 2024

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Meet the Faculty: Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal

Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal is Ruth and Paul Idzik Collegiate Chair in Digital Scholarship and Assistant Professor of English and Film, Television, and Theatre at the University of Notre Dame. He researches and teaches about the aesthetic and politico-economic entanglements of our technological cultures. His award-winning writing appears, or is forthcoming, in Critical Inquiry, Configurations, American Literature, and Design Issues, among other venues.

He holds a Ph.D. in English and STS from UC Davis and a B.Tech. in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Indore. He has also previously been a visiting fellow at the research Cluster “Media of Cooperation” in University of Siegen, Germany and a graduate student at the Universe of Chicago. His research—which is situated at the crossroads of media theory, science and technology studies, and literary criticism—has been supported by the University of California Humanities Research Institute, Linda Hall Library, and the Hagley Museum, among other institutions.

Professor Dhaliwal is currently working on a book project titled Rendering: A Political Diagrammatology of Computation, which asks ‘what exactly is computing?’ Illuminating the hard-coded political logics we take for granted in our contemporary digital cultures, his project shows how our cultural narratives, politico-economic formulations, and epistemic beliefs get crystallized into computational hardware and software architectures.

His other projects have found him researching the entanglements between data and narratives, popular discourses of the future in simulation videogames, material and cultural histories of artificial intelligence, and new taxonomies of internet aesthetics. He is also engaged in several critical making projects, including a number of public-facing game design endeavors. 

Meet the Speaker: Jack Slattery '24

Jack Slattery ’24 is a current senior majoring in Finance in the Mendoza College of Business with a minor in Computing and Digital Technologies. He also assists Dr. Behrens in Generative AI research as part of The New AI project.

Meet the Speaker: Ahana Sood '21, '24 M.A.

Ahana Sood ’21, ’24 MA got her masters degree in English at the University of Notre Dame and graduated in May 2024. She completed her undergraduate degree from Notre Dame in 2021 with Finance and English as her majors and a minor in PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics) when she lived in Cavanaugh Hall (Go Chaos!). She enjoyed working at ND Listens on campus, the student engagement center at Notre Dame, and as a Teaching Assistant. Apart from literature, she is interested in investing and the compounding equation.   

Making Generative AI Dance

The Language of Technology

Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal is Ruth and Paul Idzik Assistant Professor in Digital Scholarship and English and Assistant Professor of English and Film, Television, and Theatre at the University of Notre Dame. He researches and teaches about the aesthetic and politico-economic entanglements of our technological cultures.

With 20 departments across the humanities, arts, and social sciences, the College of Arts and Letters is home to exceptional faculty and talented students who are studying what they love. It’s an environment to ask big questions, read classic texts, and explore languages and cultures. We’re not just about learning through acquisition. We’re about learning through exploration. Our undergraduate students travel the globe to research topics that fascinate them, then turn their observations into conclusions about the world. Through the liberal arts, you learn to read deeply. Think about issues critically. Discuss topics thoughtfully. Write arguments persuasively. Contribute to projects creatively. And these abilities aren’t just vital in the classroom—they’re exactly what employers, graduate schools, and service organizations are looking for.