A new UC Santa Barbara Library speaker series, titled AI in Action: Conversations with UCSB Researchers, will feature several speakers from The Robert Mehrabian College of Engineering The first of those COE faculty will be assistant professor of computer science Xin (Eric) Wang, director of the Center for Responsible Machine Learning. He will join Fabian Offert, assistant professor in the Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies and director of the Center for Humanities and Machine Learning, as featured speakers at the second in the ongoing series of hour-long seminars, to be held at 4 p.m. on April 9 in the library’s first-floor Instruction & Training Room 1312. 

The April 9 event is the second installment of the series, which is planned to be held monthly during the academic year. The subsequent session, on May 18, will feature COE distinguished professor Simon Billinge, director of the California NanoSystems Institute, and Nina Miolane, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering and co-director of REAL AI (Reliable, Efficient, and ALigned AI) for Science.

At the inaugural event, on February 9, two researchers — Tobias Fischer, director of the Earth Research Institute; and Ben Halpern, executive director of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) — presented on how they use AI in their research. Fischer spoke about using AI to more accurately forecast wildland fires, while Halpern discussed how his team has been able to track invasive succulents more efficiently in hard-to-access coastal areas with AI-powered image recognition.

That first event, which drew more attendees than any previous library event, was inspired by the growing interest in how AI is affecting research, said university librarian, Todd Grappone. AI helps researchers compile and analyze data more quickly, which is driving an increase in the amount of scholarly work emerging from UCSB. But, Grappone wondered, how might that increased productivity shape the university itself, both today and in the future.

The library plays an important role in exploring this question, as it can assist and mediate how researchers can use journal articles and academic archives, Grappone said. “Scholars are increasingly using AI-powered tools to query and analyze large-scale digitized archives,” he noted, “uncovering prior research, surfacing hidden datasets, and generating new lines of inquiry that were previously difficult or impossible to detect.” He noted that libraries work to protect and defend researchers’ rights to access and use this material.

The AI in Action series is co-sponsored by the UCSB AI Community of Practice AI for Research Special Interest Group, which brings together researchers to explore and advance AI in ways that are ethical, equitable, and aligned with the campus mission and value.  “Our goal is to create a collaborative space where researchers can engage with AI thoughtfully and responsibly,” said Li Kui, a project scientist at the Marine Science Institute and NCEAS, and is involved in organizing the AI for Research group. In addition to the in-person AI in Action events on campus, AI for Research hosts Zoom-based sessions that connect researchers across disciplines and cover topics such as using generative AI for programming assistance, literature reviews, introductory courses, and website development. Kui noted that the group plans to continue expanding these offerings to support the broader UCSB research community.

Kui and Grappone encourage researchers who are interested in learning more about how their colleagues are using AI in their research, or who would like to propose a topic for future seminars, to join the AI for Research group, as well as registering to attend the upcoming seminars. 

“Engineers who come to the seminar series,” Grappone said, “will be inspired to see how their peers from their own disciplines, and others, are using the library’s archives to dig into research they want to do.”