AI at Duke Steering Committee Report to the Provost

Executive Summary: AI at Duke Steering Committee Report

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming higher education and shifting Duke’s engagement with research, teaching and innovation. Recognizing the importance of a coordinated approach to harnessing AI’s potential and tackling its greatest challenges, Provost Alec Gallimore launched the AI at Duke initiative following the Triangle AI Summit in 2024 to develop infrastructure and strategic direction for Duke’s work around AI. 

The summit brought together faculty, staff and community members from across the region to engage with the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, leading to dialogue around how to address the opportunities and risks presented by AI and a growing awareness of the need for guidance and leadership in shaping the future of AI in higher education.  

In response, the Provost charged the AI at Duke Steering Committee with evaluating Duke’s strengths in AI and identifying gaps and opportunities for elevating the university’s academic leadership in its development, application and ethical governance. This report represents the culmination of that effort and offers a framework and strategic vision to guide Duke’s future investments around artificial intelligence, aiming to enhance Duke’s role in advancing responsible, human-centered and cutting-edge AI innovation across research and education. 

The findings and recommendations in the report are grounded in extensive faculty engagement. The Steering Committee worked closely with faculty-led committees that were each focused on one of four pillars – Life with AI, Advancing Discovery in the Age of AI, Sustainability in AI, and Trustworthy & Responsible AI. The reports developed by the committees form the foundation of this document. Additional input was gathered through a university-wide faculty survey, open forums and ongoing dialogue with academic and administrative leadership. 

The AI Steering Committee and its subcommittees were intentionally constituted to ensure broad and representative faculty governance across disciplines, ranks and perspectives. The recommendations in the report reflect the synthesis of wide-ranging discussions and, in some cases, principled disagreement. While not every participant endorses every recommendation, the report aims to ensure that the diversity of faculty viewpoints is substantively reflected in its analysis and proposals.

While the original pillars shaped early discussion, faculty feedback and committee deliberations led to a set of organizing areas that more directly reflect Duke’s needs and opportunities. As a result, the report’s recommendations are structured around six interconnected focus areas and their respective goals: 

• Research: Strengthening institutional capacity in foundational, translational and human-centered AI, while advancing AI’s trustworthy and responsible use.  
• Education and Workforce Development: Expanding AI education, curriculum development and experiential learning pathways to prepare students, faculty and staff for success in the wake of technological transformation.     
• Communications and Thought Leadership: Developing a strong institutional identity around AI and elevating the university as a trusted leader in conversations about the future of AI. 
• Governance and Culture: Establishing durable and responsible AI governance frameworks to guide the ethical use of AI across research, teaching and university operations.
• Infrastructure: Building the technical and human systems needed to enable AI research and innovation at scale.
• Sustainability and Societal Impact: Aligning AI advancement with Duke’s commitments to environmental sustainability and social responsibility.

These areas reflect an institutional approach to AI innovation that is both deeply technical and deeply human. The recommendations emphasize investments in key areas such as strategic faculty hiring, shared data and computing infrastructure, and formal institutional structures to build on Duke’s strengths in foundational and human-centered AI, interdisciplinary scholarly engagement, and clinical and ethical AI governance.

As Duke experts across all disciplines continue to engage with AI in a variety of ways – whether developing AI technologies to positively impact society, creating new frameworks to ensure AI’s sustainable and responsible use, or finding the most effective ways to use AI as a tool to augment learning and teaching – this report provides a path forward for enhancing Duke’s institutional engagement and leadership around AI that is grounded in world-class research and a human-centered vision for AI’s future.