OU announced Thursday the appointment of a chief artificial intelligence officer, a new leadership position within the university.
David Ebert will serve as the university’s inaugural interim chief artificial intelligence officer, pending approval from the OU Board of Regents.
The chief artificial intelligence officer will be “agile and responsive” to the evolution of AI technologies and will report to the senior vice president and provost of both the OU Norman campus and Health Sciences Center, according to an email sent to the OU community jointly by provosts André-Denis Wright and Gary E. Raskob.
According to the email, the responsibilities of this role will be continually evaluated, including the potential need for a full-time, permanent leadership role or adjustments to AI-related governance.
Ebert is a Gallogly Chair professor of electrical and computer engineering, and the director of the Data Institute for Societal Challenges. Elbert is the principal investigator of “ART: Intensifying Translation of Research in Oklahoma,” a project funded by the National Science Foundation designed to translate research findings into practical solutions.
Elbert is an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers fellow and former second vice president of the organization’s computer society. He is also an inaugural member of the IEEE vgTC Visualization Academy, an adjunct professor of electrical and computer engineering with Purdue University, and director of the Visual Analytics for Command Control and Interoperability Center, the visualization science team of the Department of Homeland Security’s Emeritus Center of Excellence in Visual Analytics and Data Analytics.
He received his doctoral degree in computer and information science from The Ohio State University, and conducts research in visual analytics, novel visualization techniques,human guided explainable AI, human–computer teaming, advanced predictive analytics and procedural abstraction of complex, massive data.
In September, OU announced it would establish the nation's first Center for Creativity and Authenticity in AI Cultural Production, which is set to open in July with funding from a nearly $500,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
This story was edited by Anusha Fathepure. Sophie Hemker copy edited this story.
