UC Digital Technology Solutions hosts AI & Emerging Technology Symposium in TUC | News
Student grant winners pose for a group photo at the AI and Emerging Technology Symposium in Tangeman University Center at the University of Cincinnati on Feb. 18, 2026.
Artificial intelligence continues to take the stage in conversations over the future of higher education. University of Cincinnati (UC) students and community members had the chance to engage in this dialogue at an AI and Emerging Technology Symposium on Feb. 18, 2026.
Hosted in Tangeman University Center by UC’s Digital Technology Solutions team, the all-day event included 15 breakout sessions and presentations concerning AI’s role in teaching, research and operations at UC and other institutions.
“This event is completely for UC, by UC,” said UC Vice President and Chief Digital Officer Bharath Prabhakaran. “The goal really is to provide a forum for our faculty, staff and students to come in and share some of the work that they’re doing with the innovation that’s happening around AI and some of these emerging technologies like virtual reality, augmented reality, and so on.”
The theme of the symposium was “Bearcats AI Ready! Powering the Future of Work, Research, and Learning,” with each session examining how a particular industry or aspect of college life could change due to AI use. Another shared focus was on the moral implications of AI use, and how emerging technologies can find ethical applications in the future.
“I think it’s definitely important because every professor has different views on AI,” said Erika Lawrence, a second-year human development and community engagement major. “Every student has different views on it, so seeing like a general ethical way to use things is helpful.”
Isabel Potworowski, an assistant professor of architecture at UC’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning, said she attended the symposium to get a sense of what AI applications should be taught to students seeking employment in the modern job market.
“I came up because we train our students to go out into the workplace, and they have to be prepared to deal with AI in the workplace,” Potworowski said. “My interest is really finding out how to teach students to use the tool critically.”
Potworowski said she appreciated how the “Ethical and Practical AI Implementation for Faculty and Students” breakout session encouraged the “dehumanization of AI,” and the notion that AI is not programmed to tell the truth, but rather to output text that sounds convincing.
“The reality is our students need to be equipped with these tools to use them in their future careers because otherwise you’re going to get left behind,” Prabhakaran said. “Faculty have to teach our students how to use these tools so that they can be successful in the jobs of the future. And then staff have to embrace these tools because we all operate on limited budgets, so we want to be as efficient as we can.”
