[Event Recap] Research in the Age of AI: Faculty Symposium | Feb. 20
San Francisco State University hosted the Research in the Age of AI: SFSU Faculty Symposium, a dynamic half-day gathering on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, that convened faculty from across disciplines to explore how AI is transforming the research landscape.
Designed as both a showcase and a conversation, the symposium featured a keynote address by Dr. Gaurav Suri, an engaging panel on AI ethics and digital responsibility, and fifteen lightning talks highlighting innovative AI-driven research and methodologies underway at SFSU. The event created space not only to share emerging tools and practices, but also to critically examine the opportunities and responsibilities that accompany AI’s growing influence in scholarly work. Concluding with a faculty mixer to encourage continued dialogue, the symposium fostered interdisciplinary connection and positioned the university community to thoughtfully navigate research in the age of AI.
Presentation slides and related materials
Keynote
| Title | Presented by | Presentation link |
|---|---|---|
| The Emergence of Intelligence in Machines | Gaurav Suri | Available via Box |
"There’s a lot of noise about AI. It’s not the answer to all of our problems and it’s not this horrible thing that should never be used. It’s both. It’s a tool. And we need to understand what the tool is and what its limitations are."
– Dr. Gaurav Suri, Keynote Speaker
Ethics panel
Panelists: Carlos Montemayor (Philosophy), Sepideh Modrek (Economics, HEI and IRB), Zainab Agha (Computer Science), Chris Koenig (Communication Studies, IRB)
Keynote speaker Gaurav Suri
Parallel sessions
| Title | Presented by | Presentation link |
|---|---|---|
| Towards Understanding AI-powered Academic Search | Can Li (Library) | Available via Box |
| From Lamp to Lab: Summoning a Research Genie With AI | Nasrin Mohabbati (Information Systems) | Available via Box |
| Using AI Agents to Automate Your Research | Niel Shahrasbi (Information Systems) | Available via Box |
| Gen AI on Your Laptop: Private AI for Research | Sameer Verma (Information Systems) | Available via Box |
| Development of AI-assisted Home Health Monitoring Systems | Zhaoshuo Jiang (Engineering) | Available via Box |
| Advancing Multimodal and Cross-modal Intelligence for Human Sensory Enhancement |
Sanchita Ghose (Engineering) | Available via Box |
| Personalized Subgoal Recommendation System for Goal Achievement in Rehabilitation |
Alyssa Kubota (Engineering) | Available via Box |
| Can AI Support Students' Writing Process? Results from a Pilot Experiment | Jennifer Trainor (English) | Available via Box |
| Integrating Ethical Generative AI into Undergraduate CS Education | Shahrukh Humayoun (Computer Science) | Available via Box |
| Representational Strategies in Humans and AI in Linguistic and Cognitive Tasks | Anastasia Smirnova (English) | Available via Box |
| GenAI Readiness for Teaching and Learning at SFSU | Anoshua Chaudhuri (CEETL, Economics) | Available via Box |
| IP Implications of AI for Research, Innovation and Creativity | Mark Ciotola (Design) | Available via Box |
| Creative Impacts of AI in the Fashion Industry | Amy Dorie (FINA) | Available via Box |
| Worldbuilding and Verisimilitude in Fiction | Laird Harrison (English) | Available via Box |
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