BC Announces New Institute to Explore the Implications of AI

Boston College will leverage its formative and ethical strengths as a Jesuit, Catholic university to explore the opportunities, implications, and potential perils of artificial intelligence through a transformative gift from University Trustee Jason Krantz ’95, P’23 and his wife Keely (Fitzgerald) Krantz ’95, P’23.

The gift will establish the Krantz Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Humanity, which will utilize BC faculty, visiting scholars, and industry partners to examine AI’s long-term opportunities and impact from a humanistic perspective, while instilling BC students with the judgement, wisdom, and critical thinking to become high-performing, ethical leaders in the development and deployment of AI.

“This technology is going to touch every part of life,” said Jason Krantz, founder and executive chairman of Definitive Healthcare and managing partner and founder of Breachway Capital, “and we believe Boston College should lead the global discussion on how to ensure a positive impact on humanity and society. At the same time, the formative education that Boston College bestows upon its students is going to be more important than ever to develop the leaders of tomorrow to best leverage AI.”  

The Krantz Institute will draw from the University’s academic programs in liberal arts, business, education, ethics, nursing, law, social work, and theology to achieve three primary goals. First, the Krantz Institute will convene global thought leaders at Boston College for conferences and symposia to discuss AI and its potential impact on humanity. Second, it will provide fellowships, internships, and experiential learning opportunities for BC students that will enable them to lead conversations that will shape the future of AI, wherever they take place. Third, the Krantz Institute will advance curricular innovation and integration at BC, enhance campus-wide AI-related programs and projects, and award internal seed grants to fund emerging initiatives.

Keely Krantz, president and founder of the O’Dell Women’s Center in Springfield, Massachusetts, said that BC’s Jesuit identity makes the University uniquely positioned to lead conversations on ethics and AI. “The tradition of men and women for others gives us not just permission, but an obligation and responsibility to ask hard questions about the technology and be part of determining its impact on human dignity, justice, and the common good,” she said.

The institute will involve all nine of BC’s schools, said Robert L. and Judith T. Winston Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley. With the announcement of the institute, Quigley said he hopes to hire an executive director this academic year, and that he expects the University will hire faculty affiliates—who may include theologians, computer scientists, and multidisciplinary thought leaders—to provide human-centered perspectives on how AI is transforming industries and the world. “The Krantz Institute,” Quigley said, “is a vision for how, across the University, we can help our students to confront what AI means in the context of formative education, the tools that it affords, and the ways in which research and learning can be enhanced, and also to explore the potential threats that artificial intelligence presents.”  

Whatever the future of AI brings, the Krantzes said they believe that the institute will position Boston College as an intellectual force in steering its responsible use and leveraging the benefits for social good. “We invite people to think of ways they can get involved and help Boston College truly be the leader in determining how AI can benefit all of humanity,” Jason Krantz said. ◽