April 03, 2025
SIU’s College of Arts and Media symposium focuses on integrating AI
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s College of Arts and Media is hosting a symposium April 11 to showcase the work of faculty, students and professionals who are using artificial intelligence in their innovative process and creative endeavors.
The free, public CAM x AI: Innovating Creativity Symposium is from 8:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. in Morris Library’s John C. Guyon Auditorium, the Hall of Presidents and Chancellors, and the first-floor rotunda. The symposium will include virtual keynote and workshop presentations in the afternoon. Online registration and day-of registration are available.
Advance registration is encouraged to receive the link for the afternoon virtual presentations and the complimentary lunch (it might be difficult to accommodate last-minute requests).
During three-minute flash talks, SIU faculty, staff and students will discuss their current AI-related creative activity, research or teaching. There will also be an AI student showcase and competition.
“I'm proud of the exploration of CAM faculty, staff and students in the rapidly growing AI world,” said Hong Cheng, dean of the College of Arts and Media. “This symposium will showcase the CAM family’s endeavors and accomplishments to date on integrating AI into creativity. It will help spark stronger interest in the opportunities and challenges AI has for arts and media. It will also strengthen our ties with the regional and national communities in these fields.”
The symposium is the result of a grant from Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) Innovation Participation Grant Program secured last year by Qian Jenny Huang, an associate professor in architectural studies and symposium co-chair.
“This symposium was created to explore AI’s role in creative fields, fostering collaboration between faculty, students and industry professionals,” she said. “It’s a great opportunity for networking, learning and showcasing AI-driven creativity.”
Keynote speakers
Pinckney Benedict, a writer and former faculty member in SIU Carbondale’s creative writing program, is the morning keynote speaker at 9:15 a.m. Now a professor in the SIU School of Medicine where he is chief architect of the school’s AI/AR simulation laboratory, he integrates AI into his creative work and medical education initiatives. Benedict will present “Embracing Uncertainty: AI, Narrative, and Keats’s Negative Capability.”
Benedict will explore transformative power in storytelling, examining the shift from deterministic to nondeterministic narratives and the relevance of romantic poet John Keats’s notion of “negative capability,” or suspending judgment about a subject to learn more about it.
The afternoon session includes a virtual keynote speech at 1 p.m. by Tao Huang, chair of East Tennessee State University’s Department of Art and Design. Huang, who has more than 25 years in design research, UX (user experience) design, product design and more, will present “The Last Job for You and Me.” She is also a former faculty member at SIU Carbondale.
At 1:30 p.m., Hector Rodriguez, a designer with more than two decades of experience in industrial design, brand building and proactive innovation and AIxCreative founder, will present a virtual workshop.