National AI Literacy Day is observed annually to educate individuals on navigating a world immersed in artificial intelligence. Held on March 27 this year, the day promotes ways in which humans, including educators, can embrace the technology and better prepare for its impact.

According to the adaptive learning company HMH, research is showing many educators are growing comfortable using AI, but few feel confident teaching students how to use it responsibly. The company’s Educator Confidence Report from 2025 shows 68% of educator respondents said AI saves them one to five hours per week, allowing more time for student connection and engagement.

Florida State University’s Paul Marty is Professor in the School of Information in the College of Communication and Information and Associate Vice Provost for Academic Innovation. He works to coordinate, communicate and facilitate efforts among campus stakeholders to foster an environment that encourages and supports academic innovation at FSU. Marty serves as one of the university’s top experts in AI.

While AI’s impact on various industries remains to be seen, Marty emphasizes that human skills remain as important as ever.

“There are naturally a lot of worries right now about how artificial intelligence is going to reshape the workforce, universities and modern society,” Marty said. “You’ll hear people ask, ‘Why go to school, why study something new, why bother learning anything at all if AI already knows everything?’ In that environment, I think it’s important for us to remember that, for all its impressive capabilities, all AI can do is remix what humans already know how to do. When push comes to shove, what sets humans apart from AI is our creativity, our passion and our capacity to imagine new things. And that’s why our humanity, our curiosity and our ability to learn is so important.”

Media interested in gaining insight into AI literacy and understanding how universities like FSU are working with the technology may reach out to Paul Marty at marty@fsu.edu.

Paul Marty, associate vice provost for academic innovation, Florida State University

What is the value of human skills like critical thinking in an AI-driven world?

The most important skill our students need in an AI-driven world is their humanity. I tell our students all the time that what matters most – and what employers actually want – is their communication skills, their people skills, their management skills, their leadership skills, their empathy, their humanity, their ability to learn how to learn, and their ability to share what they’ve learned with other human beings in a way that inspires everyone to move forward and make the world a better place. If we don’t keep learning, we don’t move forward. If all we do is teach what we already know, then the world doesn’t move forward. Only by being open to learning new things are we able to innovate, to embrace risk, to grow, to improve; and in a world where artificial intelligence is ubiquitous, it’s our humanity that is going to make the difference.  

What’s the future of undergraduate education in the age of AI?

 If you talk with faculty at any university about undergraduate students and artificial intelligence for any length of time, the topic of cheating will inevitably come up. And when that happens, I usually try to turn that conversation around. Instead of worrying about cheating, I’ll say, try asking your students to tell you about the classes that they are not cheating in, and why they aren’t cheating in those classes. If you do that, what you’ll hear is a description of the university of the future – one where students are engaged in the material they are learning, and where they are not just learning things, but learning how to apply the things they’ve learned in new ways to define problems and develop solutions that will move humanity forward. In my opinion, the purpose of higher education should be to give our students those exact opportunities, both in and out of the classroom. Here at FSU, for example, we offer classes in Design Thinking and sponsor extracurricular events like Design Sprints where we provide our students with unique and incredibly valuable opportunities to work closely with industry, university and community partners, and apply what they are learning in the classroom to design innovative solutions to real-world, challenging problems. The more we can offer our students those kinds of experiences, the more we can let everyone know that our institutions are committed to the future of student success in a changing world, and that we are empowering our faculty, our staff and our students to thrive in that future.

 How are universities adapting to teaching and learning in the age of AI?

When it comes to artificial intelligence and higher education, many institutions are reacting from a place of fear, and that makes perfect sense. Change is hard. Innovation is disruptive, and universities worldwide are facing a future that threatens to overwhelm them with transformational change. The way people react when new technologies are introduced into their social systems is quite naturally from a place of fear. So here at FSU, we’re working with our faculty, staff and students to take us from a culture of fear to a culture of innovation. This is not easy, but it is an opportunity for us to think carefully about the purpose of higher education, and to determine whether our assessments are actually measuring what we think they are measuring, whether the things we are asking our students to do are actually worth doing and whether the things our students are learning are actually the things they should be learning. Those are not easy questions to answer, but by answering those questions, we can present a clear vision, with compelling stories and a positive message about why higher education still matters in our changing world. And by doing that, we can empower our institutions to proactively adopt disruptive innovations, respond effectively to radical change and shape the future of teaching and learning. 

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Florida State University is shaping the future of teaching, learning and living with artificial intelligence (AI) through international initiatives, including a recent program in Thailand where an FSU faculty member explored how AI is transforming entrepreneurship, education and small business development across the Indo-Pacific region. 

Eric Liguori, Jim Moran Professor and associate dean for research and external relations in the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship at FSU, served as lead moderator and facilitator for “Entrepreneurship in the Age of AI,” a two-day forum held Dec. 9-10 in Phuket, Thailand, that brought together more than 40 educators, policymakers, entrepreneurs and innovation leaders from the U.S. and countries across Asia-Pacific. 

Participants explored how AI and emerging digital technologies are redefining entrepreneurship education, enabling small and medium-sized enterprises to scale, and opening new pathways for U.S.-Indo-Pacific collaboration. The program also emphasized the role of education systems in preparing learners across disciplines to work effectively and responsibly alongside intelligent technologies. 

As lead moderator and facilitator, Liguori guided discussions on AI readiness, entrepreneurship education, workforce transformation and small business innovation. Sessions combined expert keynotes, policy roundtables and hands-on breakout groups focused on AI governance, talent development and access to capital. 

“Artificial intelligence is changing not just what entrepreneurs do, but how quickly they need to learn, adapt and make decisions,” Liguori said. “This program was designed to help educators and ecosystem leaders think beyond tools and focus on building entrepreneurial mindsets that allow individuals and organizations to navigate uncertainty responsibly and creatively.” 

Susan Fiorito, dean of the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship, said the program reflects Florida State’s growing global leadership at the intersection of entrepreneurship and emerging technologies. 

“FSU is uniquely positioned to contribute to these global conversations because of our deep expertise in entrepreneurship education and our commitment to real-world impact,” Fiorito said. “Eric’s leadership in this program highlights how our faculty are shaping international dialogue on innovation, workforce readiness and economic development.” 

The forum concluded with delegates outlining a confidential framework focused on AI education, subject matter expert (SME) innovation and cross-border digital collaboration between the U.S. and Indo-Pacific countries. The initiative aims to enhance geopolitical competitiveness while establishing practical pathways for shared and sustainable growth. 

The program was administered by World Learning, an international education institution delivering programs in more than 150 countries worldwide. It was funded by the U.S. Department of State as part of its broader efforts to strengthen international collaboration, workforce readiness and economic resilience through education and entrepreneurship. 

The initiative aligns with FSU’s broader engagement in global education, public-private partnerships and research-informed approaches to entrepreneurship and innovation. 

At FSU, AI efforts are faculty-led and driven by the university’s commitment to student success. Faculty and staff on multiple campus committees are charged with developing best practices, policies and guidelines to ensure FSU’s faculty, staff and students have access to the latest AI technologies and are equipped with the skills they need to use AI effectively and ethically in the classroom, on campus and beyond.  

For more information about the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship at FSU, visit jimmorancollege.fsu.edu. To learn more information on AI initiatives at FSU, visit ai.fsu.edu. For more information about FSU’s global footprint, visit global.fsu.edu. 

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Super Bowl LX featuring the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots has plenty of on-field storylines. But already making headlines off the field is the amount of commercials using artificial intelligence for production and storytelling.

As the revolutionary technology impacts everyday life, consumers are already seeing the effects of AI leading up to the Super Bowl. Brands have begun to create a hybrid model where AI is a collaborator in the creative and production process – from script development and director’s treatments to visual effects and animation.

While several ads have already been unveiled on social media leading up to the Super Bowl, much of the consumer reaction is based on what will air Sunday on NBC and Peacock before, during and after the game. The public response, which is expected to be varied across demographics, could be an early indicator of how consumers are embracing the AI-dominant creative process in commercials.

Brian Parker is an associate teaching professor for professional communication at Florida State University Panama City. His research is focused on consumer behavior, brand equity and image, advertisement strategy and response. Parker has extensive field experience as a consumer and market researcher, having consulted as an analyst on projects for companies including Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Celebrex, Miller Beer, Budweiser, Nescafé and Florida Power & Light.

Parker believes AI’s heavy influence in advertising represents a new frontier.

“Consumer behavior is inherently interdisciplinary, drawing from psychology, sociology and economics,” Parker said. “From this perspective, AI is poised to change how consumers engage with Super Bowl advertising in both exciting and cautionary ways, with effects that vary across psychological tendencies, cultural context and generational differences.”

For more analysis on consumer behavior and reaction toward Super Bowl commercials, media may reach out to Associate Teaching Professor Brian Parker via email at bparker@fsu.edu.

Brian Parker, associate teaching professor, Florida State University Panama City

This year’s Super Bowl commercials are expected to see an enormous breakthrough in AI development, from production to accelerated ideation. What kind of impact do you expect this to have on consumer behavior toward these ads?

From a psychological standpoint, AI will likely increase attention and novelty in the short term. AI-driven visuals, hyper-personalized storytelling and rapid creative iteration can produce ads that feel surprising, emotionally resonant and highly tailored. However, consumers are also becoming increasingly persuasion-savvy. When an ad feels overly synthetic or manipulative, audiences may disengage or question its authenticity. In this environment, trust becomes just as important as creativity.

Advertising, after all, operates in the interruption business. If brands fail to interrupt with something relevant, entertaining or meaningful, they simply become part of the clutter competing for attention. AI may help brands break through that clutter, but only if it enhances, rather than replaces, human insight.

Culturally, AI signals a broader shift in which technology is no longer operating behind the scenes but becoming part of the narrative itself. For some audiences, AI-enabled ads will represent innovation and progress. For others, particularly amid concerns about job displacement and ethics, they may trigger skepticism or backlash. Brands that acknowledge AI transparently and use it as a tool rather than a gimmick are more likely to resonate.

From a sociological angle, the Super Bowl functions as a shared, communal ritual. AI will likely amplify this collective experience by accelerating meme creation, social sharing and second-screen engagement. Ads may be designed not simply to be watched, but to be remixed, discussed and debated in real time. Given the influence of social media and creators in shaping culture, this may be the most immediate short-term impact of AI-generated advertising.

Are there any AI commercials that have already been released or will be released on Super Bowl Sunday that you feel could reflect the technology’s enormous impact?

Even before kickoff, several AI-driven Super Bowl commercials have already generated significant buzz, signaling just how deeply artificial intelligence is shaping the advertising landscape. Early releases, teasers and online conversations show that AI is not simply influencing what happens during the game, but also how audiences anticipate and talk about ads in the days leading up to it.

One of the clearest examples is Svedka Vodka, which released a spot that relies heavily on generative AI for its visuals, choreography and character animation. In this case, AI is not just a behind-the-scenes production tool but part of the creative identity of the ad itself. By placing machine-assisted creativity front and center, the brand invites viewers to react directly to the aesthetic and emotional feel of AI-generated content. The mixed reactions it has sparked, with some viewers finding it innovative and others finding it artificial or uncanny, highlight the ongoing tension between novelty and authenticity.

At the same time, major technology companies such as OpenAI, Google and Microsoft are using Super Bowl advertising to position AI as an everyday, consumer-friendly tool. Rather than focusing purely on spectacle, these campaigns emphasize normalization by showing AI integrated into daily life, work and creative tasks. This reflects a broader shift from presenting AI as futuristic to presenting it as practical and accessible. From a consumer behavior perspective, these commercials function as more than product promotions. They also serve as cultural signals that shape how people feel about AI itself.

Ultimately, these early examples demonstrate that AI is already influencing both the creative process and the narrative content of advertising. Its impact is not theoretical or future focused. It is happening now and reshaping how brands capture attention, build relationships and connect emotionally with consumers.

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The Florida State University College of Law, along with the Stoops Center for Law and Business and the Institute of Law, Technology, and Innovation, hosted its first AI Day in the Capital last week, bringing together experts to discuss the future of artificial intelligence.

With College of Law Dean and Donald J. Weidner Chair Erin O’Hara O’Connor kicking off the event with a welcome message, the day was filled with discussions and presentations that included leaders in government, law, technology, and academia. The event examined the rapidly evolving landscape of AI and its implications for public institutions, civic infrastructure and ethical governance.

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The global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) has driven billions of dollars into new data centers, sharply increasing energy use and costs for consumers.

Built to handle the massive computational power of AI workloads, these data centers are creating wholesale electricity costs as much as 267% more than five years ago for customers living in those areas. A single ChatGPT query consumes approximately 10 times as much energy as a traditional Google search.

Florida State University’s Mark McNees is a professor at the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship who specializes in social entrepreneurship and innovation. He directs the Social and Sustainable Enterprises program, providing expertise on areas that include organization transformation, board governances, multi-stakeholder networks and building cultures of innovation.

McNees suggests that the surge in energy expenses driven by AI could just be getting started.

“As AI adoption accelerates and data centers proliferate to support this demand, we’re facing significant upward pressure on electricity prices that most consumers don’t yet realize is coming,” McNees said.

McNees teaches several social entrepreneurship courses while mentoring FSU students in the cultivation, refinement and launch of social enterprises. He has written several opinion columns and editorials on energy sustainability and efficiency, and hosts the long-running InNOLEvation Mindset Podcast that tells the stories of various entrepreneurs.

Professor Mark McNees is available for interviews on the intersection of AI infrastructure and energy grid capacity. He can be reached at mmcnees@jimmorancollege.fsu.edu.

Mark McNees, director, Social and Sustainable Enterprises

Worldwide surging demand for AI has collided with rising energy costs for customers in areas where data centers are operating. How sustainable is this type of dilemma in the long term?
The short answer: It’s not sustainable without fundamental changes to how we finance energy infrastructure. The current system was designed for an era when electricity demand grew only modestly year over year. That world ended when ChatGPT launched.

Here’s the economic reality nobody wants to discuss: Utilities are building expensive infrastructure based on speculative data center demand. Electric utility company AEP Ohio alone has received requests for 30 gigawatts of new connections from data centers, enough to power 24 million homes. But data center developers are shopping for projects across multiple locations before committing. When those projects don’t materialize, who pays for the stranded infrastructure? Ratepayers. As one consultant from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis put it, residential customers tend to end up holding the bag for stranded costs.

The sustainability question cuts both ways. Yes, wholesale electricity prices have surged 267% in some areas near data center clusters. But the contrarian view supported by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory research suggests that states with higher electricity demand growth have experienced smaller retail price increases. The logic is straightforward, when more electricity flows across existing infrastructure, fixed costs are spread over more kilowatt-hours.

The difference between these outcomes comes down to planning and who bears the costs. In northern Virginia, large data center customers cover roughly 9% of transmission costs, helping keep residential transmission rates below the national average. In Mississippi, data center revenue has funded grid modernization without raising household rates. The model works when implemented thoughtfully. The crisis emerges when it isn’t.

What potential solutions are there to allow consumers to not bear the cost of rising energy prices from these AI data centers?
The good news: Solutions exist, and some tech companies are already implementing them. Microsoft recently announced it will request to pay higher electricity rates in areas where it’s building data centers — specifically to prevent residents from subsidizing its AI infrastructure. The announcement came after President Trump indicated his administration is working with major tech companies to ensure Americans don’t “pick up the tab” for their power consumption.

But voluntary corporate goodwill isn’t a policy framework. Here are the structural solutions that can protect consumers:

Require data centers to build their own generation. Solar and battery storage are now the cheapest and fastest ways to deploy new electricity capacity. When Meta built a data center in Aiken, South Carolina, it partnered with a solar developer to install 100 megawatts of on-site generation. Redwood Materials launched a microgrid combining 12 megawatts of solar with 63 megawatt-hours of storage specifically to power AI data centers. The technology exists. Policy should incentivize — or mandate — its deployment.

Reform interconnection and capacity market rules. Utilities shouldn’t build infrastructure for speculative projects. Stricter requirements — like those AEP Ohio proposed, requiring data centers to post more collateral or commit to specific electricity purchases — can ensure developers have skin in the game before ratepayers assume risk.

Leverage distributed energy resources. A Rewiring America report proposes an elegant inversion: If data center developers invested in residential energy efficiency (heat pumps, rooftop solar, home batteries) they could “unlock the capacity they need” while reducing household bills. In California, a virtual power plant test dispatched 535 megawatts from over 100,000 homes, meeting half of San Francisco’s energy demand. The infrastructure exists in America’s rooftops. We’re just not using it strategically.

Embrace renewable energy as the fastest path to capacity. During a July 2025 Senate hearing, a Vantage Data Centers executive testified that meeting America’s AI power needs requires all energy sources — including storage. His key insight: Renewables paired with batteries provide the “reliable, grid dispatchable” power that data centers need. This isn’t environmental activism. It’s the fastest way to build capacity. Orders for new gas turbines face seven-year delays. Solar installations can be deployed in months.

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The Florida State University College of Law, through the Stoops Center for Law and Business and in conjunction with the Institute of Law, Technology, and Innovation, will host AI Day in the Capital at 9 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 22. The event brings together leaders in government, law, technology and academia to examine how artificial intelligence is reshaping public institutions, civic infrastructure and governance.

AI Day in the Capital will focus on how AI is already being deployed across state and local systems — and how law, policy and ethics must evolve alongside it. Through conversations, expert panels and hands-on demonstrations, participants will explore responsible AI adoption, transparency, workforce impacts, access to justice and public trust.

“AI is already reshaping how governments serve the public and how the law responds to innovation,” said Erin O’Hara O’Connor, dean of the FSU College of Law. “AI Day in the Capital creates an important forum for policymakers, scholars and practitioners to engage directly with these issues and to explore how AI can be deployed responsibly and in service of the public good.”

Sponsored by Amazon, the event reflects a university-wide effort to convene expertise across disciplines. Speakers and participants include leaders from national law firms, technology companies, and various colleges and units at FSU, as well as government officials and industry experts from across the country.

AI Day in the Capital will feature hands-on demonstrations highlighting AI in action across the university, from health care and atmospheric research to legal applications.

The event is free and open to the public. Continuing Legal Education credit is available. Members of the media are encouraged to attend; interviews with speakers and university leadership are available upon request.

Visit the AI Day in the Capital website to view the full schedule and register.

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Florida State University researchers are part of a multi-institutional team awarded a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to develop new tools using artificial intelligence to help children with speech and language limitations communicate.

Andrea Barton-Hulsey and Michelle Therrien, associate professors in the FSU School of Communication Science and Disorders, will lead two of six projects supported by the five-year Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Augmentative and Alternative Communication grant.

The team’s work focuses on developing AI-enhanced tools to help children with significant speech and language limitations communicate more easily and precisely. Notably, the collaborative effort also includes a constituent board of adults who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), ensuring that the research is guided by the expertise and lived experiences of people with disabilities.

“I am thrilled that the work of Dr. Therrien and Dr. Barton-Hulsey is being supported through this significant funding,” said Dean Michelle Kazmer of FSU’s College of Communication and Information. “Their combined expertise and innovative application of AI will help improve the lives of young people, both those who use augmentative and alternative communication tools as well as those who interact with them. Their impactful solutions in application of health technologies align beautifully with FSU Health and with the needs of children in Florida and across the globe.”

Therrien’s research project focuses on identifying “social zones” on playgrounds, analyzing the language used in those zones and developing technology supports to help children who use AAC communicate more effectively with their peers.

“Friendships are protective factors for physical health, mental health, academic performance, and community engagement,” Therrien said. “Giving children a voice is critical to building relationships and preventing social isolation.”

Barton-Hulsey leads the literacy assessment portion of the grant, which aims to create and evaluate new technology for assessing literacy in children with intellectual or developmental disabilities who use AAC.

“Providing young children with communication tools not only gives them credibility but also prevents judgment about their true abilities, opening doors to academic learning and further development,” Barton-Hulsey said.

Both projects are part of a larger collaborative effort involving researchers from FSU, University of Arkansas, Auburn University, Penn State University and Temple University, as well as the constituent board of adult AAC users. The team’s efforts also include ensuring that participants are fairly compensated for their expertise and time.

“These grants allow us to address gaps in supporting early communication and literacy development for children who use limited or no speech,” Barton-Hulsey said. “Our collaboration with engineers, educators and adults who use AAC is essential to developing effective tools and strategies.”

The projects under the grant add to the growing body of research based at FSU that help generate and share innovative strategies for improving human communication across the entire lifespan.

“This grant is a testament to the expertise and innovative approaches of Dr. Barton-Hulsey and Dr. Therrien to solving real-world challenges,” said SCSD Director Carla Wood. “This award positions our school as a vital hub for cutting-edge AAC research that will directly impact clinical practice, inform how we prepare the next generation of practitioners, and strengthen our collaborative work through FSU Health to serve children and families in our community and beyond. We are incredibly proud that their work helps ensure that every child has access to the communication tools they need.”

For more information about FSU’s College of Communication and Information, visit cci.fsu.edu. To learn more about FSU’s School of Communication Science and Disorders, visit commdisorders.cci.fsu.edu.

FSU Health is a transformational initiative to improve health in Florida by leveraging Florida State University’s cutting-edge research capabilities and academic offerings to forge new collaborations with clinical partners.

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Florida State University is partnering with Google to offer students complimentary access to the Google People Management Essentials certificate program, which helps students gain leadership and professional skills, while also learning how to use artificial intelligence (AI) at work.

FSU’s College of Business is leading the university initiative in partnership with Information Technology Services to provide this self-paced management training, giving business students a unique opportunity to gain essential leadership skills and hands-on experience with cutting-edge AI tools at no cost.

FSU is one of the first institutions in the country to offer the Google People Management Essentials course.

“We are excited about our partnership with Google, one of the world’s most prominent tech companies, and the benefits it will offer our students,” said Michael D. Hartline, dean of the College of Business. “This collaboration reflects our ongoing commitment to prepare students for the transformative effects of AI on workplaces and society, ensuring they graduate with the relevant, in-demand skills necessary for a rapidly changing world.”

People Management Essentials is an eight-hour, self-paced course developed by the Google School for Leaders, Google’s center for leadership development. Taught by Google experts, the program equips new and aspiring managers with practical skills to build high-performing teams, set and achieve goals, support individual growth and invest in their own development.

A key feature is hands-on experience with AI tools such as Gemini and NotebookLM, empowering participants to incorporate artificial intelligence into their daily management activities — ranging from setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART) goals to developing project plans and customizing communications for a variety of audiences.

“At Google, we’ve seen firsthand how investing in managers creates a more effective, collaborative and supportive environment for all and drives business outcomes,” said Brian Glaser, chief learning officer at Google. “We believe the principles behind effective management are universal. By sharing what we’ve learned, we hope to empower leaders and their teams to thrive in any organization.”

Glaser added, “We believe that great managers create great teams. By making our foundational management principles accessible to everyone, we hope to empower the next generation of leaders to build a better future for teams, one manager at a time.”

For more information, visit business.fsu.edu.

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Financial scams targeting older adults have reached a high level of sophistication, posing significant risks to this vulnerable demographic.

A recent Scientific American article, co-authored by two experts from Florida State University’s College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, reveals new insights into how artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly deceiving people with financial scams. According to the article, the well-organized attacks are hurting senior citizens because they are more prone to cognitive decline, social isolation or even life transitions.

Thomas Blomberg is the dean and Sheldon L. Messinger Professor of Criminology. He is also the executive director for the FSU Center for Criminology and Public Policy Research. His research focuses on identifying ways to more effectively link research knowledge to public policy. One of his areas of interest is examining the relationship between educational achievement among incarcerated youthful offenders and successful community reintegration.

Blomberg believes there are two main reasons scammers opt to prey on older adults.

“They’re easy targets and often they are fairly affluent,” Blomberg said of what draws scammers to older adults. “I think that’s pretty consistent throughout our research. They’re often not as skeptical. They believe someone’s word is their bond.”

Julie Brancale is an assistant professor at the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Her research focuses on understanding the causes, consequences and justice system responses to financial exploitation and victimization of older adults. Brancale also translates her research findings into practical recommendations for policy and practice.

Brancale believes some of the preventative strategies needed for older adults to stay ahead of scammers include building skepticism and getting educated.

“The big thing that we have found is skepticism is important,” Brancale said. “In order to build that skepticism, you need to be educated. What that means is constantly keeping up to date with these scams that are happening and the tactics that people are using. They’re so sophisticated and they’re getting more sophisticated every single day.”

A combination of old and new scam tactics has flooded the elderly in recent years – AI voice-generated phone calls, fraudulent calls demanding immediate payment, lottery and sweepstakes calls and more. For example, the “grandparent scam,” which originated in 2008, exploits a person’s emotions by impersonating a grandchild or another family member in distress.

However, the research by Blomberg and Brancale offers several ways to stay safe from scammers — ranging from social support groups of trustworthy friends, taking practical protections and actively reporting suspicious activity to law enforcement and advocacy groups.

Media interested in learning about the latest research into these sophisticated financial scams can reach out to Dean Blomberg at tblomberg@fsu.edu or Professor Brancale at Julie.Brancale@fsu.edu.

Thomas Blomberg, dean and Sheldon L. Messinger Professor of Criminology

How does the concept of financial wealth factor into older adults getting scammed?

What we found is that for a lot of older people, the idea of money is a little different. When they get to a certain age, it doesn’t have the same significance as when they were younger — struggling and worried about every bill or whether they can afford another car.

What kind of psychological tactics do some of these scammers use to gain the trust of seniors?

I have dealt with many heavy issues but have never found myself quite as emotionally distraught as I was in the Villages, seeing these older people who had been victimized and what it had done to their self-confidence. They’ll make decisions to please the other person. There is a cognition issue where they don’t have as much self-confidence. There’s a lack of skepticism often. And that’s the one thing we try to push in their education is building skepticism through education and awareness and building self-confidence.

Age is a thing in which self-confidence can decline and therefore your decision making can decline.

Julie Brancale, assistant professor

How can family members or caregivers help protect their loved ones from fraud?

With family members, there’s a couple of things that they can do to protect aging loved ones: the first is being in tune with the older adult. A lot of older adults are fearful of letting their family members know that they have been scammed, or they potentially could be scammed, because they’re afraid that their family might come in and take away their independent living situation. Having family members know that older adults truly value that independence and to not try to come in and take away their independence is really important. Having regular conversations and being in touch regularly with their family member to protect, and perhaps notice subtle changes in their cognition and their physical abilities, is also important. For example, ‘Are they talking on the computer more to somebody than they used to?’ I don’t think that there’s a really quick fix. I think this is like a long-term relationship and really building that trust between the parents and children or siblings across generations.

What are the most effective ways to prevent seniors from becoming scam victims?

It’s building education about what’s happening, what kind of scams are out there, what are the tactics that are being used, and then that helps to build that sense of skepticism and confidence in a person’s ability to say no or to delay making a decision. A lot of the scams that we’re seeing nowadays, they’re really putting the pressure on the older adult that you need to act right now. ‘You need to send this money right now. If not, something bad and terrible is going to happen.’ Or on the flip side, ‘if you don’t send this money right now, you’re not going to get the prize that you’re you’ve just won in the lottery.’

What the skepticism and education does is it allows the older adult to take a step back and make decisions a little bit slower. That’s always a good thing. And then identifying a trusted person that the older adult can go to; ‘Who is this that I can contact at any time? And they’re not going to make me feel silly, stupid, afraid for asking the question if this legitimate or is this not.’ Having somebody that that older adult can contact with a potential issue is key. It’s about making sure that an older adult has somebody who really is looking out for their best interest and can provide them additional education and help boost their skepticism and their sense of self-efficacy, or their concept of themselves and their belief in themselves.

A lot of older adults that we’ve interviewed over the years have told us that they fell victim because they didn’t want to reach out. They felt like they were going to be a burden on somebody else. So having somebody there can really be key and help prevent these scams and frauds from happening.

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A research project in Florida State University’s Department of Geography has been accepted into the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource Pilot Start-up program. The project is focused on developing a predictive model to forecast fire frequency and severity in California.

The NAIRR Pilot Start-up program connects researchers and educators to computational, data and training resources essential for advancing AI research and applications. It is led by the National Science Foundation in partnership with 12 other federal agencies and 26 non-governmental partners.

“The main resource from the NAIRR is the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), which is necessary to train any foundation model,” said Ziqi Li, assistant professor of the Spatial Data Science Center and the Department of Geography.

Foundation models are a form of generative AI which learn from data sets and apply that knowledge to produce new information. The research project, “Advancing Foundation Models to Predict Future Fires in California,” is led by Liling Chang and Li, assistant professors in the Department of Geography, who are developing a foundation model that examines the history of fires in California to predict when and where future fires may occur and how severe they might be.

“Fires in those ecosystems are very important,” said Chang. “Ecosystems co-evolve with fire, and fires play an important feedback role onto these ecosystems.”

Predicting when and where fires will occur helps fire management organizations reduce catastrophic events and understand the impact of fire management on various ecosystems.

“Our main goal would be to generate the future time series, spatial maps and severity mosaics of fires in California by the end of the century,” Chang said.

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Florida State University will join Google’s AI for Education Accelerator program to provide free AI training to students, faculty and staff. The program was announced in the company’s recent $1 billion commitment to education in the U.S. over the next three years.

This investment will support AI literacy programs, research funding and cloud computing resources nationwide, according to Google’s announcement. FSU leads the state of Florida with its dedication to AI training and development as the only R1 institution within the State University System to participate in this program.

“At Florida State, we are committed to providing our faculty, staff, students and researchers with the latest tools and advancements, empowering our community to achieve beyond what many think is possible,” said Jonathan Fozard, chief information officer at FSU. “Our adoption of Gemini for Education reflects that commitment, enabling us to push the boundaries of technological innovation, research discovery and academic excellence, all in a safe and secure environment.”

Google’s AI for Education Accelerator program aims to provide students and educators with AI tools designed to personalize learning, enhance productivity and prepare students for a technology-driven future.

Gemini for Education, which includes data protection free of charge, is accessible to all FSU students, faculty and staff by logging in with their university email and password. The company also offers free AI training to college students as part of its program.

For students, Google’s AI tools serve as a powerful resource for inquiry-based learning, a thought-partner for brainstorming projects, and a personalized tutor to explain complex concepts in a safe, controlled environment.

“Every student deserves access to the AI skills needed to succeed in today’s job market,” said Lisa Gevelber, founder of Grow with Google. “We are proud to partner with Florida State University to provide students with our most advanced AI products and training, ensuring they know how to make the most of the technology in the classroom and beyond. This program builds on years of us working together with universities to help students prepare for exciting careers.”

As part of this initiative, FSU is adding Gemini and NotebookLM to its growing list of AI resources available to faculty, staff and students. These tools help faculty and staff create engaging instruction, simplify administrative work and focus more on mentoring students. The program also includes access to Google’s AI Essentials and Prompting Essentials programs for faculty and staff to help them get the most out of these AI tools.

“We are very excited about the AI tools that this partnership with Google will bring to our faculty, staff and students,” said Paul Marty, associate vice provost for academic innovation. “Gemini-powered applications like NotebookLM make it easy for students to create summaries, study guides and practice quizzes, and for faculty to organize course content into shareable notebooks that can serve as an interactive classroom resource for their students.”

For more information, visit ai.fsu.edu.

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On Sept. 3, the United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health held a hearing on the critical issue of advancing American health care through artificial intelligence.

Championed by many organizations, including the American Medical Association, the use of AI in health care is seen as one of the new technology’s most important benefits. It is utilized in ways that improve patient health outcomes, provide surgical precision, enhance diagnostic accuracy and much more.

Florida State University’s Zhe He, a professor in the College of Communication and Information and director of the Institute for Successful Longevity, recently developed a study highlighting AI’s impact in diagnostic accuracy, personalized treatment plans, interpreting medical images, streamlining operations and supporting remote patient monitoring among many successful initiatives.

His research lies in the intersection of biomedical and health informatics, artificial intelligence, and big data analytics. He is an elected fellow of the International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics (IAHSI) and the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA).

“AI has already reshaped health care in tangible ways,” He said of the new technology’s transformative impact. “We now use AI to analyze electronic health records, medical images, and even predict differential diagnosis, mortality and hospital readmissions. These tools don’t replace clinicians, but they extend their reach and help reduce diagnostic delays, personalize treatments and improve efficiency. Importantly, AI is also opening doors to rural communities by enabling new models of remote monitoring and telehealth support.”

Delaney La Rosa, teaching professor at the College of Nursing, is an educator and academic leader whose work bridges clinical practice, digital innovation, and equity-centered curriculum design. She is a nationally recognized researcher and speaker on the ethical application of AI in nursing and education.

La Rosa has expertise in health care informatics, the use of AI in health care and the integration of AI in health care education. She explores how emerging technologies can be aligned with human-centered, accessible approaches to teaching and care.

“The area that AI is transforming health care most is in the preemptive area,” La Rosa said. “We’re finding out when a patient is about to decline or when a patient is about to go septic. We are looking through data across populations.”

“In rural primary care clinics, we know that these areas are stretched for staffing,” she added. “What these AI tools can do is they can use the data across that primary office’s entire population of patients and, using the training that it was trained with, can identify patients who are most likely to develop conditions or who are most likely to benefit from preventive programs.”

Media interested in learning about the multitude of ways AI is advancing health care can reach out to Zhe He at zhe@fsu.edu and Delaney La Rosa at dwl25b@fsu.edu.

Zhe He, professor in the College of Communication and Information and director of the Institute for Successful Longevity

1. We’ve seen enormous impacts already, but what other areas in health care do you feel AI can potentially change in the future?

 I see three big frontiers:

 Patient engagement: Tools that help people better understand their lab results, medications and care plans can empower them to make more informed choices.

 Aging and chronic disease management: With our aging population, AI can play a vital role in predicting risks, supporting caregivers and promoting adherence to treatment.

 Clinical research and drug discovery: AI is accelerating trial recruitment, optimizing study design and uncovering new therapeutic targets. Over the next decade, I think these areas will be transformed just as radiology has been over the past decade.

2. How has AI impacted the work you do?

My research focuses on making health information more accessible and actionable with informatics and AI. For example, my team is developing LabGenie, a GenAI-powered system that helps older adults and caregivers interpret lab test results and generate personalized questions for their clinicians. We are also developing AI-based systems to promote adherence to cognitive training, support post-transplant care and identify strategies for HIV prevention and management for young adults. Across all of this work, AI is not an end in itself—it’s a means to improve patient engagement, adherence to treatment and shared decision making.

Delaney La Rosa, teaching professor, College of Nursing

1. What kinds of advancements has the College of Nursing made as it invests heavily in AI?

From my personal perspective, the biggest contribution we are making for AI is two-fold: The first is we lead the nation. We are the first with a degree in health care AI for our students. There is a big juggernaut out there — we must quickly learn how to use AI and then we must quickly teach our students how to use AI and use it ethically, which is another big issue, and then graduate workforce-ready individuals. Not only do we have our degree program, but we are about to release a microcredential where we develop six total courses for a certificate program called Nursing Essentials of Responsible AI. We are also beginning our postgraduate certificate. We’re leading the nation in graduating. We’re getting workforce-ready students.

 The second thing is we are leading an AI consortium and having our first launch summit that’s happening in Orlando on Sept. 17 – the Nursing and AI Innovation Consortium Launch Summit. And what that means is that we have leaders from across industries — research, practice, higher education — who are coming together, and we’re going to sit at the table and determine where we want to go next in AI.

2. How critical is the role you play in terms of AI education?

 I think the most important thing to me is our foundational essentials course. This course gives you a good grounding in the things that are not going to really change much in AI. It’s that base understanding so we can know the language. One thing that nurses are great at is being able to assess the data and information that’s coming out to see if it’s quality and it’s scientific. But you can’t do that in AI unless you have a basic understanding of how it works.

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