UC Merced Magazine | Volume XX, Issue VI

MESSAGE FROM THE CHANCELLOR

Chancellor Muñoz takes a selfie with new Bobcats at this year’s Scholars Bridge Crossing.

T he transformative potential of arti cial intelligence has become increasingly evident across numerous elds, including research at UC Merced. AI's capability to analyze vast datasets, identify intricate patterns and make predictions has greatly accelerated the pace of discovery in a growing number of disciplines. In health care, AI analyzes medical images, forecasts patient outcomes and even discovers new pharmaceuticals. In astronomy, AI algorithms are si ing through enormous volumes of data to pinpoint celestial objects and phenomena. In agriculture, AI is again helping analyze big data and is a critical part of remote sensors and automated systems. Moreover, AI is streamlining research methodologies by automating repetitive tasks, allowing researchers at UC Merced to concentrate on more innovative and analytical aspects of their work. As you will see in this issue, AI has crossed all disciplines at this university. But as with any new technology, there comes a litany of issues and challenges that require thoughtful and consistent attention. As teachers, faculty members must deal with whether and how to incorporate AI into lessons and assessing student work. Students must wrestle with ethical issues and creative challenges and think about their futures and how AI will t into their careers. Faculty members and students creatively analyze the best ways to incorporate AI into the important research they do, and how this technology might enable them to push the envelope of their research. As AI and related generative platforms advance, their in uence on research at UC Merced is poised for further growth, potentially leading to breakthroughs and innovations that will positively impact life here in the Valley, across the state and around the world.

Fiat Lux, Juan Sánchez Muñoz, Ph.D. Chancellor

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