Last weekend, 38 educators from across Virginia gathered at the University of Virginia for a teacher training workshop on AI in primary education, co-hosted by CosmicAI and the UVA Center for the Liberal Arts. As artificial intelligence rapidly reshapes education, the workshop aimed to provide teachers with the tools and knowledge to integrate AI into their classrooms effectively and responsibly.

The event covered key topics including:

• How generative AI works and its evolving role in education.

• Creative applications of AI in student learning.

• Strategies to maintain academic integrity.

Paul Torrey, Co-PI of CosmicAI and a UVA faculty member, led sessions introducing foundational AI concepts. The workshop also featured contributions from leading experts in education:

• Natasha Heny (Associate Professor of Education, UVA) led interactive sessions on LLM-augmented instructional design, helping teachers explore how AI can support curriculum development and student engagement.

• Dana Little (Assistant Professor of English, UVA) guided discussions on the potential of multimodal AI-generated content to enhance accessibility and support diverse learning styles.

• Alecia Blackwood (Assistant Professor of Education, Longwood University) provided an overview of AI educational tools, addressing privacy concerns and navigating school district adaptation policies.

Teachers engaged in hands-on activities and collaborative discussions, leaving with practical strategies to bring AI-based learning into their classrooms.

As AI continues to shape the future of education, CosmicAI remains committed to bridging the gap between cutting-edge AI research and real-world classroom applications. Stay tuned for future workshops and resources to support educators in this rapidly evolving landscape!

Sign up to learn more about our initiatives at https://www.cosmicai.org/get-involved

NSF-Simons AI Institute for Cosmic Origins (CosmicAI) invites the submission of proposals for novel research projects at the intersection of AI/machine learning and astronomy. 

Explorable Universe: Advancing trustworthiness, generative AI methods, and exploration of large datasets.

Observable Universe: Advancing the efficiency of the calibration and analysis of high-dimensional data and preparation for next-generation observing facilities. 

Explainable Universe: Advancing the interpretabililty of AI methods and their application to study astrophysical systems.

Accelerated Universe: Advancing the robustness of AI surrogate modeling in the astrophysical domain and methods to accelerate the modeling of physical processes

Applications will be reviewed in two stages. Applicants will first submit a project abstract. Abstracts will be reviewed by March 21. Selected applications will be invited to submit a full proposal. Final awards will be announced by May 1.

Abstract Submission: Due March 14

An interview with Professor Stella Offner, an astrophysicist and the visionary Director of the CosmicAI initiative on the OpenAI Changes Everything podcast.

Her groundbreaking work leverages AI to unravel the mysteries of the universe’s formation, pushing the boundaries of how we explore the stars. Professor Offner shares her fascinating perspective: while AI, when used as a tool by human scientists, is accelerating scientific discovery in ways we never imagined, it’s not set to replace human scientists anytime soon.