We have all witnessed Duke make historic administrative changes, in the midst of a pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement, for the upcoming semester. As an outsider to the Duke administration, I’ve wondered about the nature of university leadership, especially in this unprecedented time. Even though Dr. Lawrence Carin was not scheduled to discuss our current climate with the Huang Fellows, I noticed true leadership in the care and attention he paid his students as a Duke professor and vice president of research.

I learned about Dr. Carin’s commitment to teaching the relevance of artificial intelligence (AI) in every field of study, but I also saw his dedication to enhancing the education of every Duke student. Most importantly, despite his vast experience with material technology, Dr. Carin’s emphasis on treating all people with dignity and care is imminent in both his words and his work.

Our world is increasingly digitized, resulting in technological developments that can have real impacts on the human experience. For example, Dr. Carin discussed the integration of AI in Law and Literature: if researchers need to conduct an extensive literature survey with an overwhelming amount of documents, they could use AI to automate this process. Drawing from my own interests in the impact of environmental exposures on health outcomes, I realized the utility of AI in tracing environmental factors on the human body, a feat which has historically been difficult in toxicology.

In his own career, Dr. Carin has applied artificial intelligence to voting behavior, music, and neuroscience, among other topics. But, how can we prepare for the emerging role of artificial intelligence?

As I began to comprehend the ever growing implications of data science in our daily lives, I made a mental note to prepare for these new changes by taking at least one computer science class before I graduate. However, I soon realized that with a Duke education, my exposure to data science could reach far beyond a single course. According to Dr. Carin and President Price, all Duke students should acquire the ability to make coherent arguments based on data.

For instance, instead of asking a biology student to count, segment, or track cells by hand, a biology course should include instruction of undertaking such a process with AI, and subsequently teach students to analyze and draw a conclusion based on biological data.

To incorporate data science throughout Duke curricula, Dr. Carin started Duke’s Center for Computational Thinking, which has three goals:

(1) increase exposure to data science among all Duke students
(2) make data science co-curricular to fundamentals in a computer science degree
(3) raise ethical questions in data science to promote data citizenship

Although I do not intend to major in computer science or engineering, I definitely plan to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the Center for Computational Thinking.

Above all, Dr. Carin emphasized the importance of caring for others and treating people with respect, regardless of profession. As students, we all strive for top tier GPAs and technical skills, but Dr. Carin instead asks us to prioritize love in humanity. I often worry about whether I am on the right path. Is my major right for me? What classes should I take? How can I take the most out of my Duke experience? Among all the buzz of a college student in an increasingly digital world, Dr. Carin reminded me what really matters: leading a life with service, empathy, and purpose through human connection.

Maya Ghanem , Huang Fellow ’23

Maya is a first-year at Duke University studying cultural anthropology and chemistry on the pre-med track.