Iliff Artificial Intelligence
Institute
Building a sustainable future for humans and machines
GATHERINGS
ai.iliff hosts unique hybrid gatherings to foster dialog and action toward a more sustainable future for humans and machines. We bring together scholars, activists, and industry leaders to collaboratively and creatively imagine these futures.
AI, Tech, x The End of the Anthropocene (Nov 2021)
Race, Surveillance, and Technologies of Resistance (Nov 2020)
AFROFUTURISM CONFERENCE
The Iliff AI Institute and the Black Speculative Arts Movement (BSAM) co-hosted “Afrofuturism Through AI, Art, and Posthumanism.” Scholars and artists from across the country gathered to explore the intersection of their work. Friday evening’s event showcased artists who shared insights on their pieces. Saturday’s conference began with a panel on Black posthumanism, followed by discussions on AI and Blackness, and Black embodiment in art.
PROJECTS
This AI platform is trained on 120+ years of Black literature. This LLM is tiered into four voices that represent different historical eras: Turn of the 20th Century, Early-mid 20th, Civil Rights Era, 1980s-Present.
With this model, you will be able to engage with the voice of each time period—with dialects and perspectives reflective of these time frames
VOICES FROM THE CULTURE
EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
Much of the hype and fear around the emergence of AI in so many areas of society can be addressed through education. We design and deliver custom learning opportunities in areas related to AI and Society, Data Citizenship, and Human-AI interface. We can provide online, hybrid, or on site learning opportunities. Email: preed-butler@iliff.edu
CORE TEAM
Philip Butler
DIRECTOR
Philip Butler is an international scholar whose work primarily focuses on the intersections of neuroscience, technology, spirituality and Blackness. He uses the wisdom of these spaces to engage in critical and constructive analysis on Black posthumanism, artificial intelligence and pluriversal future realities. He is the founder of the Seekr Project, which explores the iterative connections between generative AI, mental health and critical Black consciousness.
Theodore Vial
SENIOR RESEARCHER
Ted Vial began using machine learning in his research a couple of years ago. He fell in love with the questions AI raises about what it means to be human, and is eager to bring the resources of philosophy and theology to the development of technology in ways that make the technology better and build a future in which humans and machines flourish together.