Earth's Story: The Importance of Human Understanding in the Age of AI -- Laura Condon and HAS Faculty and Doctoral Students to Speak at COS Spring Lecture Series
Please mark your calendars for a very special event!
HAS Professor Laura Condon and other HAS faculty and doctoral student researchers will present a talk and panel discussion, Earth's Story: The Importance of Human Understanding in the Age of AI, at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, February 25, 2026, Centennial Hall.
The HAS panel will include Laura Condon and other members of the Hydrologic Reasoning Intentional Research Community: Ty Ferre', Hoshin Gupta, Bo Guo, Andrew Bennett, Ben West, Aldo Tapia Araya, Jiawen Du, Jawad Muhammed, and Wenqian Zhang.
Human curiosity, for millennia, has driven us to explore the mysteries of our blue planet and its place in the cosmos. The story of the Earth, as we tell it, is really a synthesis of Earth science. Today, we have access to more data and computation than at any other point in human history. Artificial intelligence shows great promise for simulating Earth systems and uncovering new patterns. Will this render human investigation obsolete?
In this talk, Dr. Laura Condon will explain how these advances are transforming our ability to study the planet, while also highlighting why human insight remains essential. Now, more than ever, we need human reason and ingenuity to ask the right questions and build new understanding that can drive us forward. Get your FREE tickets for the Centennial Hall in-person talk here.
This year's College of Science series, Today's Science, Tomorrow's World: Building a Better Future, showcases the groundbreaking research at the University of Arizona that is driving innovation and shaping the future we aspire to create.
From pioneering efforts to slow the biological roots of again, to the surprising ways tiny insects reveal big insights into brain health, to the quest for clean and limitless fusion energy, and the essential role of human understanding in an age of artificial intelligence--each lecture explores how today's scientific discoveries are laying the foundation for a healthier, smarter, and more sustainable future.
All lectures are free and open to the public.
Tickets are required for entrance at Centennial Hall:
Click here to reserve your spot now for free via Ticketmaster. Tickets for each lecture will be emailed to you to scan at the entrance to Centennial Hall.
You can also watch the livestreams and recorded talks on YouTube.