Washington and Lee University to Host Inaugural Summit on the Future of AI The PLAI Summit offers a full day of programming and discussion in tandem with W&L's Young Alumni Weekend.
Logo credit: Helen MacDermott, senior academic technologist, and OpenAI’s Soras“The one thing we cannot do is pretend AI will go away. Its impact is certain and already underway. How AI continues to impact society will largely depend on our critical engagement with it.”
~ JT Torres, director of the Harte Center
Washington and Lee University is set to host the inaugural PLAI Summit on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, at the Harte Center Collaboration Gallery. In collaboration with Alumni Engagement and Career and Professional Development the Provost’s Office and funding support from the Associated Colleges of the South, the Harte Center will present a full day of programming in tandem with the university’s Young Alumni Weekend to deepen conversations in the campus community about artificial intelligence.
“PLAI” is an acronym for “Prompting, Learning and Artificial Intelligence” and refers to a dedicated space in the W&L Harte Center for Teaching and Learning where members of the W&L community can get hands-on experience with generative AI tools. The PLAI Lab, launched in January 2025, is located in Leyburn Library and offers an environment where W&L students, faculty and staff can experiment with generative AI tools for text, image generation and research support guided by campus experts.
JT Torres, director of the Harte Center, says the overarching goal of the PLAI Summit as well as the PLAI Lab is to empower attendees to thoughtfully engage with AI while preserving the creativity, critical judgment and ethical reasoning integral to a liberal arts learning environment.
“AI presents a significant disruption to pretty much every aspect of life, from the personal to the ecological,” says Torres. “The one thing we cannot do is pretend AI will go away. Its impact is certain and already underway. How AI continues to impact society will largely depend on our critical engagement with it.”
The full-day summit will bring together scholars, technologists and industry leaders to explore how artificial intelligence can extend and enhance, rather than replace, human capability. Through keynote talks, interactive demonstrations and panel discussions, the event encourages attendees to engage critically with artificial intelligence, weighing its potential for enrichment against the ethical questions surrounding its future. The summit will feature a distinguished lineup of thought leaders in AI.
Edward Watson, vice president for digital innovation at the American Association of Colleges and Universities and the author of “Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning,” will deliver the opening keynote on integrating AI into core learning. Jeff Schatten, associate professor of business administration at W&L, and Joshua Fairfield, William Donald Bain Family Professor of Law and director of artificial intelligence legal innovation strategy at W&L Law, will explore AI’s creative possibilities along with safety considerations and legal implications.
The summit will also feature a panel of W&L alumni who are currently innovating in the AI space. Ethan Fischer ’20, vice president of strategy at K Health, Logan Brand ’20, CEO of Selium Solutions and former Microsoft product manager, and Kaitlyn Brock ’20, financial accounting advisory services senior consultant at EY, will share how they’ve adapted to and helped shape AI-driven transformations in health care, consulting and finance. Afternoon sessions include an interactive discussion on generative AI in education with David Dixon, head of AI Education & Innovation at MIT Open Learning, and Jacob Gibson, W&L visiting assistant professor of cognitive and behavioral science, as well as a closing presentation by digital humanities scholar Lauren Tilton, E. Claiborne Robins Professor of Liberal Arts and Digital Humanities and the director for the Center for Liberal Arts and AI (CLAAI) at the University of Richmond. The PLAI Lab will also be accessible for attendees throughout the day.
Sybil Prince Nelson ’01, assistant professor of mathematics, will serve as the host for the day’s events and says the summit is designed to provide insights for attendees ranging from AI novices to those well-versed in the technology, with a focus on understanding AI’s current state and its potential in educational and professional contexts.
“People are engaging with AI at many different levels,” Prince Nelson says. “I hope that the summit helps those who haven’t yet explored AI to understand its capabilities and begin thinking about how it might fit into their lives. For those already using AI, I hope it offers a clearer view of where the technology is headed, especially in higher education, and how they can play a role in helping our students use AI both effectively and ethically.”
Register for the summit, learn more about the day’s speakers and panelists and explore AI resources on W&L’s campus.
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