University of Chicago Launches New Institute for Applied Artificial Intelligence

The University of Chicago formally opened its new Institute for Applied Artificial Intelligence this month, a cross-disciplinary research hub on the Hyde Park campus that will pool faculty from the Department of Computer Science, the Pritzker School of Medicine, and the Harris School of Public Policy.

University officials said the institute grew out of years of informal collaboration between computer scientists and economists studying market behavior, and was formalized after a multi-year fundraising effort brought in more than $110 million in gifts and research grants.

"We have real strength in computing and real strength in economics and policy research, and for a long time those two worlds mostly stayed in their own buildings," said the institute's inaugural director, a longtime UChicago computer science professor. "This gives us an actual home for the people who want to work at that intersection instead of doing it as a side project."

The institute will fund roughly 25 new faculty and postdoctoral positions over the next five years, with initial research clusters focused on AI applications in healthcare diagnostics, urban policy modeling, and financial market analysis. A new fellowship program will also bring in 35 doctoral students annually, with priority given to projects that pair a computing advisor with an economics or public policy co-advisor.

City economic development officials have welcomed the announcement as a boost to Chicago's growing technology sector, noting that the University of Chicago remains a major source of spinout companies in the region. University leaders said the institute's new building, a renovated space near the Hyde Park campus, is expected to open to researchers within the year.