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AI in the Mind Sciences (AIMS) Initiative

 Curiosity about the human mind and brain — how we think, experience consciousness, perceive, learn, and connect with each other — makes us human. These fundamental questions remain a challenge for our science. Today, artificial intelligence offers something novel: not just new tools, but fundamentally new ways to think about the human mind and brain.

Weinberg College's AI in the Mind Sciences (AIMS) Initiative meets this moment. We’re using AI and machine learning to fuel our teaching and research in linguistics, neurobiology, philosophy, and psychology, creating a new foundation for discovery. We're not simply studying the mind and brain with better tools; we're imagining new kinds of questions, new ways of understanding, and new possibilities for what AI can reveal about ourselves.

Steering Committee

Chairperson:
Matt Goldrick, Professor of Linguistics
Ann Bradlow, Abraham Harris Professor of Linguistics
James Fitzgerald, Associate Professor, Department of Neurobiology 
Erin Leddon, Associate Professor of Instruction, Department of Linguistics & Cognitive Science Program
Vijay Mittal, David S. Holmes Professor of Brain Science 
Peter van Elswyk, Associate Professor of Philosophy

AIMS Visiting Professor

Erika Exton

Erika Exton headshotDr. Erika Exton (PhD, Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, 2024) uses machine learning and AI methods to advance speech science. Through AIMS, she is introducing students to AI methods for studying language and speech and using AI tools to study how Major Depressive Disorder impacts speech.