BU Wheelock Forum Explores AI in Education
The event, attended by approximately 250 people—including educators, administrators, and scholars—featured CFA professors James Grady and Clay Hopper
BU Wheelock Forum Explores AI in Education
Faculty urge caution and a need for equity in integrating artificial intelligence in schools
This article was originally published in BU Today on March 31, 2026. By Steve Holt
EXCERPT
In just the past few years, artificial intelligence has infiltrated nearly every sector and industry, is accessed daily on billions of smart phones, and now seems poised to transform the way children learn in school. Teachers say they’re caught in the middle, exasperated by the ubiquity of chat bots and large language models—and the temptation students have to use them as a crutch—but fearful of being left behind in the AI race. A question many teachers, parents, and administrators are asking: What do teaching and learning mean in an AI world?
This question was at the center of the 2026 BU Wheelock Forum AI and the Future of Education, hosted by the Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development on March 25. Approximately 250 people—including educators, administrators, and scholars—attended the event, which featured a keynote from Aaron Rasmussen (COM’06, CAS’06), cofounder of online education platforms Outlier.org and MasterClass; a faculty panel discussion moderated by Wheelock Dean Penny Bishop; and a modern dance performance using Random Actor, a technology developed by James Grady, a College of Fine Arts assistant professor of art, graphic design, and Clay Hopper, a CFA senior lecturer, directing, that harnesses AI to extend the visual expression of human movement.
Realizing the potential for AI to improve education equitably, Rasmussen told the audience, it may come down to educators being at the table in how AI is developed and utilized. “When we think about the way AI is changing education, we need to think about who is going to guide AI to make education better,” Rasmussen said. “And it seems to me that educators would be the best people to do that.”
The Forum featured a dance performance utilizing Random Actor, a technology developed by CFA faculty James Grady and Clay Hopper that harnesses AI to extend the visual expression of human movement and dance.
CURIOSITY, COMPUTATION, AND THE FUTURE OF GRAPHIC DESIGN EDUCATION
As Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at BU, James Grady’s work does not neatly fit within the traditional boundaries of graphic design. Instead, it stretches across theatre and performance to data science and computer vision.