University of Iowa develops AI strategy with amplifying human potential in mind

The University of Iowa is crafting a new artificial intelligence framework in order to better understand the technology’s impacts, good and bad, and identify opportunities for innovation across all areas of campus, university leaders say.

The university has launched a new website and project support program through its artificial intelligence strategy.

The Iowa City university announced this month it is rolling out a strategy for AI exploration and use across academics, research and clinical operations, with Associate Provost for Faculty and Strategic Operations Barry Thomas saying they are focusing on amplifying the power of human beings.

Roxanna Curto, president of the UI Faculty Senate, said she’s seen AI usage become more commonplace among her colleagues in the past couple of years, and university officials involved in crafting the AI strategy should be “commended” for just how comprehensive it is.

“They’ve really taken it seriously, you know, they’ve assembled a lot of groups to explore the questions, and there’s a lot of faculty involvement,” Curto said. “It’s just sort of a number of approaches that they’re taking.”

Thomas said conversations around the larger context and impact of generative AI in higher education began in late 2022 and by spring 2024, the university had formed an AI steering committee with Thomas as a co-chair.

After learning more about how AI “cross-cut the institution” in a way where it would need to be acknowledged in the university’s overall strategic plan, the university in summer 2025 created a larger strategic plan committee with stakeholders across campus and the outside community. In this time, Thomas said researchers from different academic areas had already begun using AI as a tool in their work, and continue to do so today.

“The pace of change with these technologies has been extraordinary, as has the adoption in sort of a wide range of ways, and so of course that has led to ongoing changes in the way we’ve been thinking and approaching (our strategy), and what we need to respond to,” Thomas said.

A website housing AI policies, guidance and resources for faculty, staff and students has already been launched as part of the strategic plan, Curto said, and the university announced at the start of September it is using $1 million in public-private-partnership funding over three years to enhance access to AI tools for project teams and offer training and professional development.

Events like student debates, listening sessions and an AI in teaching and learning summit will create discussions acknowledging both the pros and cons of AI, Thomas said, as there are “uncertainties” to the upsides and downsides of the technology. The university’s new certificate in artificial intelligence also welcomed its first cohort this fall.

Curto said she believes the officials working on the AI strategy are trying to figure out how to reach all faculty and students with their plan when AI usage is “so discipline dependent,” as a clinical researcher would utilize tools differently than a French literature professor like her.

Behind the work to provide resources and guidance on AI is the goal of amplifying “human potential,” Thomas said, and harnessing that potential to take advantage of new opportunities responsibly. That means supporting every discipline in instruction, research and discovery, developing AI expertise and giving students the training they need to enter a workforce that will expect them to be AI literate.

“As an institution, it’s important that we are continually monitoring and fostering that dialogue on campus, providing and enabling our faculty, staff, and students to explore these opportunities, to help lead to a deeper understanding, whether that is through our ability to harness the tools for great discovery or to study their downsides,” Thomas said. “I’m pretty excited about where this has gone because I think it really fits with the role that a university should have.”