What is HAIL?
The BU Humanities and Artificial Intelligence Lab (HAIL) is an interdisciplinary, student-centered working group that brings together undergraduate and graduate students to explore social, political, and ethical questions raised by AI.
HAIL places an emphasis on examining the sometimes overlooked value-laden considerations that AI researchers and practitioners use to guide their work. We ask how these considerations shape which normative questions about AI are treated as salient and which are sidelined, within and between the humanities and technically oriented fields. In this way, the lab aims to create a space in which different methodologies and background assumptions can be brought into conversation without imposing a single framework from which to ask questions raised by AI.
Student lab members collaborate over the semester on a concrete project, culminating in a deliverable. You can find information about previous semesters’ projects below.
If you have any questions, please read this FAQ or send us an email at buhail@bu.edu. You can also follow us on Instagram @hailbostonu.
HAIL will meet weekly in the 2026-27 academic year. If you’d like to join, please fill out our form to express interest for the fall semester. The first meeting will be on September 16.
Spring 2026
Spring 2026 was our first semester, with participating students from disciplines including Philosophy, Computer Science, Economics, Psychology, Neuroscience, and Data Science. We focused on AI’s presence in academia and the semester culminated in a white paper providing feedback on the AI at BU student certificate.
HAIL Leadership Team:
Daniel Munro, Assistant Professor, Philosophy.
Seth Villegas, Lecturer, Computing and Data Sciences.
Sarah Durkee, PhD Candidate, Philosophy.
Sophie Naddaf-Sejournet, Undergraduate, International Relations & Innovation/Entrepreneurship
Allegra Hoddie, Undergraduate, Computer Science & Philosophy.