Columbia University Holds Forum on Reimagining Teaching and Learning in the AI Era
Faculty and students led panels, poster sessions, and a debate on how AI is shifting pedagogy.
Columbia deans, professors, and students gathered on Wednesday in Low Library for a high-level discussion of how AI is shaping University teaching and learning. The day-long event included panel discussions, an Oxford-style debate, and a “demo expo,” where faculty presenters shared their latest experiments in how to use AI in the classroom.
The event, “Reimagining Teaching and Learning in the Age of AI: An AI and Education Forum,” was organized and led by Columbia Alliance, the Center for Teaching And Learning, the Data Science Institute, Columbia Engineering, and Teachers College.
Columbia University Provost Angela V. Olinto opened the event, largely held in the library’s Faculty Room, with remarks about Columbia’s strengths in various fields of AI, and the challenges ahead.
“Across Columbia, from music and the arts to the sciences, AI is now part of our intellectual life,” Olinto said in her remarks. “Schools across the University are adapting their teaching curriculum to meet this moment.”
The day kicked off with a panel discussion featuring Columbia deans Katrina Armstrong (Irving Medical Center), Shih-Fu Chang (Engineering), Jelani Cobb (Journalism), Amy Hungerford (Faculty of Arts & Sciences), and Costis Maglaras (Business School). Garud Iyengar, the Avanessians Director of the Data Science Institute, led the panel, in which the school leaders discussed their vision for how AI should reshape pedagogy, curriculum design, and the intellectual development of students across disciplines.
That event was followed by a keynote address on “Teaching With AI,” from C. Edward Watson, vice president for digital innovation with the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U).
After the keynote, presenters and attendees gathered in the Low Library Rotunda for a Demo Expo, in which faculty gave presentations on projects they have led to explore how AI can deepen learning, reframe assessment, and reshape the student experience across disciplines. The demos showcased a range of active, AI-enabled courses and teaching initiatives recently launched across the University and its affiliate partners.
An afternoon panel featured faculty whose work has been supported through the Office of the Provost’s Teaching and Learning Grants. Representing disciplines and campuses across Columbia, panelists discussed how they have integrated AI into their courses, what they have learned through experimentation, and how their approaches are evolving. Another panel explored the skills and mindsets students need—such as critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and AI literacy—to remain adaptable, ethical, and effective in an AI-driven workplace.
Later in the day, students offered candid reflections on their own experiences with AI in a panel on “The Learner Perspective on AI in Teaching and Learning.” Finally, the event closed with a two-part debate: “In the Age of AI, Will Universities Become Obsolete?” The conversation brought students and faculty together in an Oxford-style debate about the evolving role of higher education in the AI era. Matthew Connelly, professor of history and vice dean for AI Initiatives, moderated.