New AI Club Finds Footing on Campus

Loyola’s AI Club became a registered student organization under the Quinlan School of Business this semester and has recently restructured their goals to better serve interested students through educational programming and engaging activities.

Serving as an intersection between tech and business, AI Club provides education on artificial intelligence in the business world with an emphasis on computer science, catering to students in the major. Professor Steven Keith Platt, who runs an AI lab outside of Loyola, is the faculty advisor for the Quinlan club. 

Third-year information systems and analytics major and Vice President of Operations for AI Club Jillian Rossman said the organization’s main purpose is to share the personal and career-based advantages of AI with students who are curious about the new technology. 

“There is an inclusivity that exists within AI that has the ability to serve any student however they see fit,” Rossman said.

Although Rossman said most people assume AI is limited to casual users and only those who are able to code truly benefit from it, there are infinite ways for people to garner a personal use for AI, especially career-wise.

In 2024, Rossman, who started at Loyola as a cybersecurity major, was doing workflow automation — a software process which automates certain functions to reduce manual work — for a venture capital firm during her business internship with help from ChatGPT, which showed her how to use Google Apps Script to suit her needs. 

Using ChatGPT, her work experience in a professional setting became simpler and less excessive while also furthering her skills in coding, Rossman said. 

“I could have never done any of that if it wasn’t for AI,” Rossman said.

Noticing the organization that AI had brought to her work, Rossman said she realized she could continue to advance her life through the use of AI.

“I feel like my potential went from a girl who only knows a certain set of things to a girl who has access to a personal mentor and tutor tailored to her,” Rossman said. “That girl can now achieve anything she wants in life.”

To garner curiosity among students and demonstrate the potential of AI, Rossman said she produced some marketing techniques for the club, like posters and Instagram posts, with assistance from AI programs Dall-E, Firefly 3 and Sora. 

Besides creating a community for students to talk about hot topics surrounding AI and its many uses, AI Club is also about learning how to use AI to have a positive and lasting impact on the world, according to Rossman.

She said the first step in solving issues with AI is becoming AI literate, which includes learning about its basic functions, structure and progression as a technology. While many think AI is dangerous to human expression and the workforce, Rossman said this is due to a misunderstanding of how AI works.

Third-year computer science major and President of AI Club Michael Owoyemi said he supports the debunking of myths surrounding AI — a main objective for the club going forward.

“I want to bridge the gap between the reality of AI and this paranoia that I hear my friends and other people have,” Owoyemi said. “We want to show it could be a tool for human creativity and fuel towards innovation,” Owoyemi said. 

As its first project, AI Club planned to develop a sign language recognition tool aimed at translating American Sign Language, giving members the opportunity to participate in the software development of a tool to help deaf people more easily communicate.

After consulting the project with an assistant professor of ASL, however, the team decided to reconsider their project’s direction and halt it for now. There seemed to be an inconsideration of the deaf community’s true needs and a lack of interaction with the community AI Club was trying to serve, Owoyemi said. 

“We went into the project optimistic and naive,” Owoyemi said. “Now we’re taking a step back and asking ourselves if people actually want this and thinking about who our solution would serve.”

Owoyemi said AI Club is focused on one project at a time, but it continues to plan for future initiatives. He said the club will take the summer to plan out the work which will be at the forefront of next year’s goals. 

In addition to its internal projects, AI Club hosted an event featuring Matthew Kelly, founder of Black Kids Predict, an organization that supports Black high school students from inner-city areas who are interested in technology.

In collaboration with the Black Cultural Center, a student organization dedicated to the empowerment of Black students and culture, AI Club said they wished to show the representation of Black voices in the professional world of AI and finance.

“It’s great for students to hear from someone who is Black, accomplished in the field of AI and who shares his experiences as a way to give back to his community,” Rossman said.

AI Club will host a panel of five women with experience in the field to speak on the significance of women in tech. 

They club said they plan to continue expanding their outreach and providing educational opportunities for students interested in AI and its application to social issues and various professional fields.