New call for proposals: Impact papers on generative AI

Dear colleagues,

Over the summer, we wrote you to invite proposals to develop impact papers that articulate effective roadmaps, policy recommendations, and calls for action across the broad domain of generative AI.

The response was beyond anything we could have predicted – a total of 75 proposals, across a broad swath of topics. From the first round, 27 proposals were selected for funding.

But the groundswell of interest and the caliber of the ideas overall made clear that a second round was in order – so we write with excitement to announce that today.

We encourage you to submit a proposal, as an individual or as a group, provided you were not part of one of the proposals selected in the first round.

Multidisciplinary teams are particularly welcome, especially in those realms where generative AI intersects with education, with scientific discovery, or with design and creativity. We encourage school, college, and DLCI leadership to help identify and foster multidisciplinary connections and collaborations.

As with the first round, the papers developed from the selected proposals will be widely distributed to industry leaders, other academic institutions, policymakers, and the public.

• Proposals may bear on the potential impact of generative AI on nearly any aspect of our society, including education, scientific discovery, the arts, business, and government, as well as the broader implications for society and policy.
• Brief abstracts (maximum length of one page) summarizing the proposal are due December 18.
• The submitters of selected abstracts will be informed by January 19.
• The submitters will receive funding to prepare 10-page impact papers that will be due May 15th, to MIT Press.

The submission process is described below. We hope many of you will participate!

With gratitude and enthusiasm,

Sally Kornbluth 
President

Cynthia Barnhart 
Provost

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Call for impact papers: Generative AI

Submission Process

Please submit a one-page abstract outlining your idea for a 10-page impact paper and a brief budget request and rationale (anticipated to be between $50,000 and $70,000) by using this form. The budget is intended to provide resources to help teams develop their 10-page impact paper over the Spring term. The abstracts should scope and describe the proposed work that will inform the impact paper before the due date.

Timeline

• December 18: One-page abstracts due. To be reviewed by a committee of faculty from all five schools and the college
• January 19: Abstracts selected and funding decisions conveyed
• May 15: Final 10-page impact papers due

Topics

Topics of interest include uses of generative AI in education, scientific discovery, the arts, business, and government, as well as the broader implications for society and policy.

Illustrative topics include generative AI and:

• Scientific discovery
• Design and creativity
• Human health, medicine, and the life sciences
• The workforce
• Cybersecurity and privacy
• Materials discovery and synthesis
• Climate and sustainability
• K–12 and higher education
• The societal impact and ethical deployment of AI models
• The impact on the global economy

Funding and Publication

The projects selected to move forward will each receive anticipated funding of between $50,000 and $70,000, and the final papers will be disseminated widely via a publication venue managed and hosted by the MIT Press and the MIT Libraries.

Questions?

If you have questions or require more information, please contact infogenaiimpact@mit.edu.