How is USC adapting to the world of artificial intelligence?

The university’s inaugural AI Summit answered that question and more, with faculty, student, staff, and experts offering insights into the present and future of the groundbreaking technology, including its relationship to the nature of humanity.

Under the umbrella of Interim President Beong-Soo Kim’s AI@USC initiative, the university aims to be at the forefront in the new world of AI. Across medicine, psychology, entertainment, education, tech, and business, the summit covered the wide range of AI applications already employed on campus.

USC Marshall School of Business Dean Geoffrey Garrett hosted the event as chair of the president’s AI Strategy Committee. The committee, comprised of deans, faculty, and researchers, is exploring how the technology can reshape learning and teaching across USC, equipping students with the technical fluency necessary to thrive in an AI-driven society.

“I often get asked the question, ‘Is AI hype or reality?’ I think the answer is reality,” Garrett said. “‘Is this a revolution for higher education?’ Feels like it to me. So let’s do it together.”

The program kicked off with a fireside chat between Interim President Kim and Eric Schmidt, KBE, executive chairman and CEO of Relativity Space, and former CEO and executive chairman of Google. Schmidt likened the introduction of large language models (LLMs) to the invention of electricity and explained that innovation will come not from the top down, but from the bottom up — with students leading the way.

“It’s always been true in my world that two graduate students and an untenured assistant professor change the world,” Schmidt said. “There’s something about that pressure cooker, which USC is very much a part of, that’s not going to go away. What will go away is an awful lot of this traditional education and common knowledge, and you’ll find ways of having much more self-learning and so forth.”

Despite his optimism, Schmidt also expressed concerns that an overreliance on AI could diminish critical thinking and erode human dignity.

“I’m very worried that people will say, ‘Let's have AI do it. After all, AI is much smarter than we are,’” Schmidt said. “That is a loss of human dignity that I’m very, very worried about. Do not give your human dignity to a non-human activity. You want your freedom to think, to write, to associate and so forth as a human being, and you want to do it collaboratively.”

Several presenters shared Schmidt’s unease, among them Nathanael Fast, director of the Neely Center for Ethical Leadership and Decision Making and assistant professor of management and organization at USC Marshall. In his talk “Will Humanity Flourish or Flounder in the Age of AI?” Fast dissected the balance between decisions fueled by profit versus those motivated by purpose.

“How do we make our tech ecosystem more purpose-driven?” Fast asked the audience. “When these companies are so powerful and they’re so heavily incentivized to maximize profit in the short, the answer is power. We can build power in society to have conversations with these companies, and we can build power in three different ways: through organized money, organized people, and organized information.”

Fast said the Neely Center is leading these discussions through three methods: Seeking public input to determine society’s aspirational goals; developing metrics and data to aid policymakers and business leaders (such as the Neely Design Codes); and building networks and partnerships to help get the work done.

Yet, Fast emphasized that Neely can’t do it alone.

“If you’re a person who likes working with organized money and resources and channeling them into purpose-driven AI, we need you to do that,” Fast said. “If you’re a person who likes working with organized people, building partnerships and networks and collective action, we need you to do that. And if you like working with information, collecting data, doing research, thought leadership, we need your influence.”

Like Fast, every speaker underscored the need for AI literacy at USC, where future innovators and industry leaders are developed each year. As part of that effort, Garrett was joined by Leah Belsky, VP and general manager of education at OpenAI, to announce plans to bring ChatGPT Edu to the entire USC community.

As Belsky explained, providing access to ChatGPT Edu allows faculty, staff, and students to utilize the technology across disciplines and purposes, whether it be engineering models, film innovation, or advantages in career services. With advancements at their fingertips, Belsky says students will be prepared for a new professional landscape that highly values AI expertise.

“Recent studies show that more than 70% of leaders would now rather hire a less-experienced candidate with strong AI skills than someone with more traditional experience but no AI skills,” Belsky said. “And roles that require AI skills carry an average wage premium of about 56%. So there are real learning reasons, real education reasons, and very real job-market reasons for students to build these skills. And the best way to do that is in community — working alongside top professors across disciplines. This is going to be the start of that journey.”

From filmmaking to clinical research to social impact, Garrett noted the breadth of subjects discussed at the AI Summit, an event uniquely suited to USC’s depth of expertise.

“One of my colleagues has an expression: ‘Only at USC,’ and this feels like an Only at USC moment for me,” Garrett said. “We went from AI filmmakers to AI urology clinics. We also went from the crisis of homelessness to creating synthetic focus groups. Who would’ve ever thought that was possible? The best of the best USC.”

Reflecting on the day’s speakers, Garrett closed the event looking forward to USC’s next steps in the world of AI.

“The idea behind the event was to galvanize, inspire, and integrate the whole USC community,” Garrett said. “I hope this event today has been a good step in that direction, but it can only be a step. There’s a lot more to happen."