Red tide, a harmful algal bloom that produces toxins, is known for causing respiratory irritation in humans and killing fish in coastal waters. Recent research shows that the conversation is also shifting to include a more subtle neurological threat.  

According to the Roskamp Institute, studies have linked red tide’s airborne brevetoxins to brain fog, intensified migraines and cognitive fatigue, yet the public remains largely unaware of when these risks peak. 

Florida State University’s Bingqing Liu is a leading satellite oceanographer and assistant teaching professor in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science. She also serves as principal investigator at the HyperCoast Lab @ FSU and is at the forefront of using AI and NASA satellite technology to revolutionize how we track red tide’s Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) in the Gulf. 

Liu was part of a research team that conducted a recent study published in Scientific Reports explaining how extreme weather events, such as Hurricane Milton in 2024, can cause rapid intensification of Karenia brevis red tides. The study, funded by the NASA PACE Program, details how heavy rainfall and severe runoff wash large amounts of pollutants into coastal ocean waters to allow toxic algae to grow. The research reinforces the growing health risk hurricane activity poses for humans living near coastal waters. 

The study highlights the importance of using advanced hyperspectral satellite technology for monitoring HABs. For the first time, data from NASA’s PACE satellite allows scientists to map and distinguish different algal groups in coastal waters, including Karenia brevis, the organism that causes Florida’s toxic red tides, from other algal groups. 

“New hyperspectral satellite missions such as PACE provide far more detailed information on ocean color, enabling us to distinguish phytoplankton types and not just overall abundance, including harmful species such as Karenia brevis,” Liu said. “This capability allows for earlier and more accurate detection of bloom development over large spatial scales. When combined with forecasting tools, these observations can provide advance notice of potential exposure, allowing vulnerable individuals, such as those prone to respiratory or neurological symptoms, to take precautions before conditions worsen.” 

While general beach reports focus on dead fish, Liu’s work with hyperspectral imaging and AI approach offers more precise data on how these toxins move through air and water. Her research helps connect bloom detection to public health risks for Florida’s coastal communities. 

Based off her latest research, Liu is available to discuss how advanced satellite data can serve as an early warning system for those with neurological vulnerabilities; how FSU’s new algorithms can detect toxic concentrations that traditional monitoring might miss; and the science of how toxins move from the Gulf into the lungs and potentially the brains of residents. 

As Florida continues its Atlantic hurricane season, Liu can explain how her lab’s technology can support earlier warnings and help reduce health risks. 

Media interested in interviewing Liu may reach out to her via email at bingqing.liu@fsu.edu. This week, she will give a presentation on remote sensing of red tides at the 13th Symposium on Harmful Algae in Iowa. 

Bingqing Liu, satellite oceanographer, Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science  

How can AI and hyperspectral imaging work together to detect red tide? 

“AI allows us to move from simply observing harmful algal blooms to anticipating them. By combining satellite observations, such as those from NASA’s PACE mission with ocean models and environmental data, AI can identify patterns that precede red tide events, including changes in phytoplankton communities and physical–chemical conditions (e.g., temperature, salinity, currents, and nutrient levels). This enables earlier detection and short-term forecasting, which can support timely advisories and mitigation efforts. While we cannot prevent red tide itself, we can significantly improve early warning and reduce its impacts on communities and ecosystems.” 

 How do these toxins affect humans? 

“Red tide organisms, such as Karenia brevis, produce toxins (brevetoxins) that can affect humans in multiple ways. In coastal areas, wave action can break open algal cells and release toxins into the air, where they can be inhaled, leading to respiratory irritation and potentially neurological symptoms like headaches or brain fog. Toxins can also accumulate in shellfish, posing risks when consumed. Understanding how blooms develop, intensify and move is critical for predicting exposure pathways and protecting public health.” 

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Florida State University Vice President and Chief Information Officer Jonathan Fozard shared the university’s approach to artificial intelligence with higher education and technology leaders Oct. 19 at a GlobalMindED event at the United Nations in New York City. 

Fozard participated in “From Classrooms to Labs: How Universities Are Connecting (and Constraining) AI,” a higher education panel focused on the opportunities and challenges institutions face as they move beyond experimenting with artificial intelligence to using it across classrooms, research and university operations. 

He joined Jennifer Sparrow, chief academic technology officer at New York University; William H.J. Hubbard, professor of law and chair of the Law School AI Committee at the University of Chicago; and Chris Ott, head of AWS Academy at Amazon Web Services. Jay Nappy of AWS moderated the discussion. 

During his remarks, Fozard stressed that a central issue facing education is no longer whether institutions will provide access to artificial intelligence, but how they will turn that access into meaningful outcomes. 

“One of my biggest takeaways from the discussions is that the challenge ahead is no longer simply providing access to AI around the world,” Fozard said. “It is how we connect people, technology, research, teaching, governance, data protection and opportunity in ways that allow institutions to move beyond experimentation and create meaningful impact at scale.” 

During the discussion, Fozard described FSU’s efforts to make secure, university-supported AI tools widely available to students, faculty and staff. 

“As AI adoption accelerated, FSU recognized that access and experimentation could not be concentrated only in technology-intensive disciplines such as computer science and engineering,” Fozard said. “Students and faculty in the arts, humanities, business, health, education and other fields also need opportunities to understand how emerging technologies may shape their disciplines and future professions.” 

“The goal is not to have artificial intelligence do the work for students or replace instruction, but to use technology to create additional opportunities for students to engage with their work, respond to feedback and strengthen their understanding.”

– Vice President and Chief Information Officer Jonathan Fozard

That philosophy has helped guide FSU’s development of AI resources that support students, faculty and staff while allowing the university to evaluate multiple platforms rather than relying on a single form of technology. 

At the same time, Fozard emphasized that strong safeguards must accompany access. 

“FSU evaluates AI platforms not only for their capabilities but also for how vendors protect intellectual property, institutional information and student data,” he said. “Those considerations become particularly important for a university whose responsibilities extend from higher education and research to K-12 environments.” 

Fozard also stressed that artificial intelligence should support faculty and staff, not replace human relationships at the heart of education. 

“Students continue to value interaction with faculty, mentorship and the ability to learn from people with deep experience in their fields,” Fozard said. 

FSU’s focus, he said, is on identifying ways AI can give faculty new tools and provide students with more opportunities to learn, practice and improve. 

One example discussed during the event involved an AI-supported tool that allows students to receive feedback on an assignment, revise their work and learn from that feedback before submitting it to their instructor for a final grade. Early results from a pilot study showed about 20% better performance among students who used the tool compared with those who chose not to use it. 

“The goal is not to have artificial intelligence do the work for students or replace instruction, but to use technology to create additional opportunities for students to engage with their work, respond to feedback and strengthen their understanding,” he said. 

Fozard also highlighted how AI and advanced computing are supporting FSU’s research mission. 

Fozard pointed to FSU’s work in pediatric rare diseases, which combines whole-genome sequencing, advanced computing, data-driven research and emerging AI capabilities to help accelerate diagnosis, discovery and the search for new treatments. 

Fozard discussed FSU’s efforts to give students hands-on technology experience before they enter the workforce.  

“FSU’s technology internship initiatives combine practical technical experience with communication, teamwork, leadership and other professional skills students will need throughout their careers,” he said. 

The GlobalMindED event brought together leaders from higher education, business, technology and other sectors to examine how organizations can respond to rapid technological and societal change. 

“There is something powerful about discussing the future of education, technology and AI in a place built around bringing people from across the world together to tackle complex challenges,” Fozard said. 

For more information about artificial intelligence at Florida State University, visit ai.fsu.edu. 

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The Florida State University College of Nursing has been awarded $1.96 million through the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s Avenir Award Program for Research on Substance Use and HIV/AIDS to develop and test an artificial intelligence-powered intervention that delivers personalized behavioral health support.

Led by Assistant Professor Liying Wang, the project will support the development and testing of a program called Glow. This generative AI-powered, just-in-time adaptive intervention will provide personalized dialectical behavior therapy skills coaching to people who are at risk for HIV or substance use. The research will explore how AI can reduce health risks associated with HIV and substance use by safely delivering personalized behavioral health skills and coping strategies when individuals need them most.

“By combining the patient-centered perspective of nursing with evidence-based behavioral interventions and emerging AI technologies, this work has the potential to make personalized support timelier and more responsive to individual needs,” Wang said. “Ultimately, we hope to explore how these technologies can safely extend the reach of care and improve patient outcomes.”

Wang is a member of the FSU College of Nursing’s Institute on Digital Health and Innovation (IDHI) and the Center of Population Sciences for Health Empowerment (CPSHE). Notably, this award is part of her efforts as faculty of FLORIDA FIRST, a university-wide career development program housed at CPSHE and directed by Professors Frankie Wong, Eugenia Millender and Pamela Keel. FLORIDA FIRST is supported by NIH FIRST, a National Institutes of Health initiative that aims to enhance and maintain cultures of excellence in the biomedical research community.

The project reflects the FSU College of Nursing’s growing focus on integrating AI and emerging technologies into nursing research, education and practice. Through initiatives such as IDHI, the college continues to explore new ways to harness AI to advance nursing science, strengthen healthcare delivery and prepare nurses to lead in a quickly growing technology-driven field.

“Artificial intelligence is helping us pave the way for how we understand and deliver healthcare, and nurses must be at the forefront of shaping how these technologies are used,” said Lisa Hightow-Weidman, associate dean for research for the FSU College of Nursing and co-director for the Institute on Digital Health and Innovation. “Dr. Wang’s work exemplifies the kind of interdisciplinary, high-impact research that can move digital health innovation forward while keeping patients and their care at the center.”

To learn more about the innovative research at the FSU College of Nursing, visit nursing.fsu.edu.

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Three members of Florida State University’s Learning Systems Institute (LSI) will present at European conferences focusing on AI in education, reinforcing the institute as a leading force when it comes to AI in teaching and learning.  

Rabieh Razzouk, director of LSI; Carrie Meyers, director of education and workforce talent at FSU’s Institute for Strategic Partnerships, Innovation, Research, and Education, or FSU InSPIRE; and Jim Reynolds, LSI’s director of STEM outreach, will represent FSU at international conferences this semester in Paris and the Netherlands. 

The presentations highlight the recognition LSI’s work has earned internationally in the field of AI in education. Meyers and Reynolds are leading the development of an AI education pathway as part of FSU’s InSPIRE project and have delivered presentations on this topic to numerous audiences throughout Florida. Razzouk has developed and implemented an AI-assisted instructional support system for Florida’s teachers and is using AI on the Early Grade Education Activity in Jordan, which aims to strengthen Jordan’s early grade education system.  

“We are honored to have our team asked to join the global conversation on how to utilize AI in education,” Razzouk said. “LSI has worked to become a leader in utilizing AI for education, workforce development, AI-powered learning tools and research and innovation in the field. We are thankful that FSU champions innovative research in the field and understands this work raises public awareness and fuels lasting impact in this rapidly growing field.” 

Razzouk will present at UNESCO’s Digital Learning Week 2026 in Paris, which takes place Sept. 8-11 this year under the theme of “Education in the age of AI: Facts, Frictions, Frontiers. The annual event aims to foster critical reflection and meaningful collaboration in advancing the ethical and human-centered digital transformation of education. His presentation, “Customizing Standards-Aligned Lessons with AI: The CPALMS Experience,” will demonstrate an AI-assisted instructional support system designed to help teachers efficiently adapt existing standards-aligned educational resources to better meet students’ needs. 

Razzouk has previously spoken on AI in education. Last year, LSI partnered with the World Bank and UNESCO to host “Educators Shaping Futures: A Global Knowledge Exchange on Teacher Preparation and Development.” During the event, which took place Nov. 2-4, 2025, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and drew more than 340 policymakers, teacher educators, researchers and practitioners from 41 countries, Razzouk participated in a panel examining the roles and risks of AI in teacher education and development. 

“At LSI, we made a commitment to artificial intelligence as a core capability that strengthens every aspect of work,” Razzouk said. “The vision is already becoming reality as our team has been building and delivering high-quality professional learning that equips educators to effectively and responsibly integrate artificial intelligence into teaching and learning.” 

Next month, Meyers and Reynolds will present at the inaugural “Teaching and Learning with AI in Europe” conference in Breda, Netherlands. The conference, which takes place Oct. 19-20 and is co-hosted by Breda University and University of Central Florida, aims to establish cross-border collaboration in Europe to share ideas, best practices and innovation in AI in higher education.  

“It is exciting to share the AI in education work we are leading for FSU InSPIRE and to showcase the pathways we are creating for educators and students,” Meyers said. “Just as important is the opportunity to learn from others and to discover where our challenges intersect, exchange successful approaches, and identify innovative ideas from around the world. Our students are entering an increasingly global and competitive workforce, and collaboration like this helps ensure they are prepared not only to participate in that future, but to lead it.” 

Drawing on examples created by educators in FSU’s InSPIRE program, Meyers will lead the presentation “From Content to Comics: Using AI-Supported Graphic Novels to Teach Complex Concepts,” discussing how AI can help faculty and instructional designers create comics, graphic novels, e-readers and other visual learning materials that invite students into challenging ideas without reducing rigor. 

Reynolds will lead the presentation “From Prompt to Possibility: Co-Designing Thought-Revealing Activities with AI,” where he will explore how educators can use prompt engineering to co-design authentic, thought-revealing activities grounded in the research behind model-eliciting activities. 

“When other public universities look at what FSU is accomplishing — from our data-driven campus culture to our deeply engaged faculty, staff and students — they see a path forward,” said Paul Marty, associate vice provost for Academic Innovation and professor in the School of Information in the College of Communication and Information. “We are proving that a top public research university can lead the nation in adopting disruptive innovations while keeping student learning and the public good at the center of everything we do.” 

For more information about LSI, visit lsi.fsu.edu. To learn more about FSU’s global footprint, visit global.fsu.edu. 

About LSI 

The Learning Systems Institute (LSI) partners with schools, universities, governments and industry to research, develop, implement and evaluate AI solutions that improve educational outcomes while promoting responsible and human-centered use of artificial intelligence. LSI combines educational research, AI software development, instructional design, open educational resources, professional learning and large-scale implementation into integrated solutions. From developing AI-powered technologies to preparing educators and institutions for responsible AI adoption, LSI helps partners move beyond experimentation to meaningful, evidence-based impact. 

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Florida State University brought its approach to artificial intelligence in teaching and learning to national higher education conversations this summer, including back-to-back gatherings at Google’s North American headquarters in New York City.

Paul Marty, professor in the School of Information within the College of Communication and Information and associate vice provost for Academic Innovation, represented FSU at Google’s gatherings as well as leadership workshops with the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU).

“When other public universities look at what FSU is accomplishing — from our data-driven campus culture to our deeply engaged faculty, staff and students — they see a path forward,” Marty said. “We are proving that a top public research university can lead the nation in adopting disruptive innovations while keeping student learning and the public good at the center of everything we do.”

FSU is part of Google’s AI for Education Accelerator program and a Gemini for Education partner. The accelerator provides students and educators with AI tools designed to support productivity, personalized learning and prepare students for a technology-driven workforce.

Students can use Gemini for Education to support inquiry-based learning, brainstorm projects and explore complex concepts in a university-managed environment.

Marty spent a week at Google’s facility at St. John’s Terminal headquarters, participating in two AI gatherings focused on Gemini and the future of higher education: the Google GSV Higher Ed Leader Fellowship and the Google Higher Ed Leader Series Conference.

Marty is a member of the 2026 cohort of Google GSV Higher Ed Leader Fellows, a group of 30 academic leaders selected from across North America. The fellows meet monthly to examine how AI is reshaping postsecondary education and met recently in New York for a two-day summit.

“We may be there ostensibly to talk about AI in higher education, but what we’re really talking about is the future of higher education,” said Marty. “Generative AI is prompting us to really buckle down and answer core questions about the value proposition of higher ed — for example, how can we move away from transactional relationships and reposition higher education as a public good where students engage in meaningful, transformative learning experiences.”

Following the fellowship, Marty attended Google’s annual Higher Ed Leader Series Conference, which brings together university presidents, provosts and chancellors to discuss AI integration and higher education strategy.

During the Higher Ed Leader Series, Google showcased a feature video about how Florida State University faculty and students are integrating Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) into coursework. Filmed on FSU’s Tallahassee campus, it features Chief Information Officer Jonathan Fozard and examples of AI use across disciplines.

During the conference, Marty demonstrated an FSU classroom notebook for higher education leaders, featuring a custom thermodynamics notebook created by Ralm Ricarte, an assistant professor of chemical engineering in the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. Ricarte built the notebook with lecture notes, course materials and problem sets from his Introduction to Thermodynamics course, giving students an AI study tool grounded in materials from the class.

“When it comes to AI in education, it’s important to remember that the person who does the work does the learning,” Marty noted. “If all a student does is copy and paste, they aren’t learning. But when used properly, these tools can act like an extremely well-read digital assistant available 24/7. As educators, we can show students how to harness that capability ethically to become better learners.”

Gemini Notebook restricts its answers strictly to user-uploaded sources, providing precise citations for every response. Students can use course materials to create study guides, practice quizzes, video overviews and audio overviews. FSU faculty and academic support staff have found that these kinds of interactive learning tools help boost classroom participation.

FSU’s Academic Center for Excellence (ACE) Learning Studio also hosts regular workshops that teach students how to use AI tools responsibly and effectively as part of their learning.

“FSU’s Academic Center for Excellence (ACE) helps students integrate innovative AI tools into their weekly study and test preparation routines while maintaining responsible and ethical learning strategies,” said ACE Director Holly Hunt. “Through our ‘Using AI Tools to Help You Study’ workshops and Gemini Notebook drop-in hours, Study Skills Tutors and STEM Student Specialists aid students in synthesizing course content, building personalized study guides and organizing class materials. Our goal is to teach students how to incorporate foundational learning strategies with FSU-supported AI tools to reach academic success.”

For more information about AI at FSU, visit ai.fsu.edu. To learn more about the services available for FSU faculty, staff and students, visit its.fsu.edu.

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Pellumb Reshidi, an assistant economics professor in Florida State University’s College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, has been named a Senior Fellow of Microsoft’s AI Economy Institute (AIEI), joining an international cohort of researchers studying how artificial intelligence is transforming firms and the future of work.

As part of the fellowship, Reshidi and collaborators Brian Jabarian of Carnegie Mellon University and Luca Henkel of Erasmus University Rotterdam received a Microsoft research grant to investigate the growing use of AI in hiring and recruitment. Their project focuses on agentic hiring, or the use of artificial intelligence to screen, interview and evaluate job candidates.

The research comes as organizations increasingly adopt AI tools in the workplace. While many companies have embraced the technology, questions remain about its effects on workers, employers and labor markets.

“Adoption has moved faster than the evidence, particularly on what happens when an entire industry takes up these systems rather than a single firm, and how the added competition affects firm and worker welfare,” Reshidi said. “Those effects need careful measurement, and we’re approaching them less as a question of AI substituting for people than as one about where the two together outperform either alone.”

Working with a major recruiting firm, the team has conducted a natural field experiment covering roughly 70,000 interviews, producing a dataset that tracks both recruiters and candidates from application through employment and beyond.

The evidence speaks to the interactions between human recruiters and AI systems, to how screening changes when applicants can choose between a human and an AI interviewer, and to how employers compete when they rely on similar AI screeners.

This is AIEI’s third cohort and the first to turn to firms themselves; the previous two examined how education systems prepare people for an AI-enabled economy.

The cohort’s findings will be collected in an edited volume scheduled for publication in January, with Reshidi’s team contributing a chapter and submitting its research to an open-access academic journal.

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Florida State University students, faculty and staff are getting an in-depth lesson on artificial intelligence and its applications in research, courtesy of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, part of the College of Arts and Sciences.  

The 2026 AI Bootcamp series kicked off Aug. 6 on campus and runs through Oct. 9. 

The free educational series, organized by Cottrell Family Professor of Chemistry Oliver Steinbock and Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Wen Zhu, features guest lecturers, interactive workshops, panel discussions and guided debates. The bootcamp programming covers a comprehensive range of topics throughout the fall, from agentic AI and data analysis with large language models, to mental health considerations and career planning in the AI landscape.  

The series, which takes place in the Kroto Auditorium at FSU’s Chemical Sciences Laboratory, has drawn in faculty, staff and graduate and undergraduate students from departments across campus who are interested in diving deeper into the unique challenges and opportunities presented by artificial intelligence, in the research laboratory, the classroom and beyond. 

Featured speakers for the series include experts from FSU’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Interdisciplinary Data Science Master’s Degree Program, Department of Scientific Computing, Department of Computer Science, FSU Libraries, Information Technology Services and the School of Information in the College of Communication and Information. Visiting speakers include guests and returning FSU alumni from Emory University, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Florida, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Google X and AI-driven platform Synfini. 

To view the complete AI Bootcamp program or register for the series, visit the bootcamp website.

For more information on events at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, visit chem.fsu.edu. 

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Children learning their “ABCs” or high school students studying the periodic table can turn to songs to help remember foundational educational concepts. A Florida State University professor is applying the method to chemistry class, using artificial intelligence to create new musical learning aids that help students succeed.

Oliver Steinbock, Cottrell Family Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, has previously used AI in his laboratory research to identify chemical compositions of dried salts from images. He is now exploring educational endeavors with the technology through AI-generated songs that explain core chemistry concepts, like thermodynamics and compression, and break down dense equations such as the van der Waals equation.

“I created these chemistry songs as a resource to teach concepts in a different way and create some new interest in the subject matter,” Steinbock said. “These songs can be used by students as at-home study tools, or lecturers could ask students to make their own songs about a topic as an in-class activity and have the students fact-check their songs. It’s just one tool in the toolbox of teaching.”

Steinbock’s 16-song playlist focuses on thermodynamics — the branch of physical chemistry covering interactions among heat, work, temperature and energy — and is available on Suno, a generative AI platform that creates songs based on user prompts. Through different musical genres, Steinbock’s songs teach the laws of thermodynamics, the essential rules of nature that define how energy operates in the universe, which are key foundations for physics and chemistry research.

“Physical chemistry is known as one of the hardest chemistry subjects to learn,” said Wei Yang, chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and a professor of biochemistry. “Many students have a love-hate relationship with thermodynamics due to many key equations and concepts that they must comprehend and memorize.”

In addition to serving as mnemonic devices that aid memorization through rhythm and repetition, learning songs helps students of all levels feel more comfortable in the classroom and reduce anxiety, according to research from the University of Washington published by the American Society for Cell Biology.

“These songs can have huge benefits for students with different learning styles, especially those who want to reinforce key concepts in their free time,” said Andrew Fredericks, a student in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and an undergraduate researcher in Steinbock’s laboratory. “Many people are curious — and maybe a little nervous — about how AI will continue to impact education and society, but it’s exciting to see technology being used in creative ways to help students learn.”

The country-inspired song “Temperature” helps students understand how temperature is affected by the first law of thermodynamics, which states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, while the K-pop inspired song “Z One” teaches the ideal gas law by describing the relationship among pressure, volume, temperature and amount of a substance in a gas.

To develop these songs, Steinbock input sections of his own research papers into large-language models like ChatGPT and Claude and turned the text into lyrics. He then checked the lyrics for factual errors and adjusted prompts as needed before putting the final lyrics and choice of musical genre into Suno. The result was a series of short, catchy songs highlighting core concepts that students sometimes struggle to learn through traditional lectures and reading.

“This project is a really cool example of how AI can be used in education,” Fredericks said. “By combining the chemistry content with music, the songs make the material feel more approachable and enjoyable.”

Steinbock hopes his students use these songs as an additional learning aid to support their studies while highlighting the importance of ethical and responsible AI use.

“In a project like this, I had to check the facts while also considering how much freedom the AI can take to stretch the concepts or mix in cheesy words,” Steinbock said. “AI has the potential to be a useful learning tool, but it still makes mistakes. We must learn to use it safely and constructively.”

Visit the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry website to learn more about Steinbock’s work and research in the department.

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Florida State University alumni are using artificial intelligence to help make legislation easier to understand.

Their startup, Delilah, is an AI-powered platform that summarizes complex bills and allows users to ask questions about proposed laws through a conversational interface.  Founded by recent FSU graduates with experience in government and public policy, the company has gained national attention, reaching the Top 100 on the App Store.

Delilah, short for Dashboard for Economic and Legislative Insights with Live Analytics and History, grew out of founder Joseph Visconti’s experience as a gubernatorial fellow at the Florida Capitol.

Working closely with legislation, he saw firsthand how difficult it can be for citizens to navigate bills that can span hundreds of pages.

“We have these really long bills that do important things, but they’re extremely hard to read and understand,” Visconti said. “We wanted to make these bills accessible and comprehensible for people who aren’t working in government.”

Delilah allows users to ask questions about federal, state and local legislation, receive summaries and access links to the original bill text. The team says the platform is designed to help users research public policy without specialized legal or legislative expertise.

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The model combines real-time and historical data to predict outbreaks and protect public health

Every summer, beach closures disrupt families, harm local businesses and raise public health alarms. Most of the time, the warning comes after it is already too late.

A new artificial intelligence framework developed at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering aims to change that by alerting water managers to E. coli contamination risk before anyone falls sick.

Researchers led by Assistant Professor Nasrin Alamdari developed an AI-powered predictive modeling framework that uses environmental and hydrometeorological data to provide early warnings of Escherichia coli (E. coli) contamination in recreational waterways, giving communities a window to act before health risks emerge.

Their model, which was published in Water Research, identified unsafe conditions with approximately 85% accuracy, demonstrating its potential to offer earlier warnings before levels reach unsafe thresholds.

“Beach closures often occur because we detect contamination after water conditions have already become unsafe,” said Alamdari, a researcher in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Resilient Infrastructure and Disaster Response (RIDER) Center. “Our goal is to move from a reactive approach to a predictive one, leveraging continuous environmental data, including rainfall, river flow, turbidity, temperature and upstream conditions, to estimate E. coli levels in near real time and up to a day in advance.”

How it works

Traditional water quality monitoring relies on manual sampling followed by laboratory analysis, a process that takes 18 to 24 hours to yield results. By the time a beach or river is closed, swimmers may have already been exposed to dangerous levels of contamination.

The framework developed by researchers uses current and historical environmental data to estimate contamination risk without waiting for lab results. Inputs include upstream hydrologic conditions, streamflow rates, rainfall totals, turbidity readings and water temperature. By combining these variables, the model can flag elevated E. coli risk with 24 hours advance warning.

A 2023 sewage spill that occurred after a malfunction at the Big Creek Water Reclamation Facility illustrates exactly the kind of scenario the model is built to address.

“The 2023 Big Creek sewage spill is an example of how a sudden treatment failure can rapidly contaminate downstream recreational waters,” said Ali Salou Moumouni, a graduate researcher on the project. “Our predictive models use current and past environmental and hydrometeorological data to estimate contamination risk before lab results arrive. By factoring in upstream hydrologic conditions, our model provides earlier warnings and more targeted monitoring, improving preparedness during sudden contamination events.”

Why it matters: Human health impacts and economic costs

E. coli contamination in recreational waterways can infect people swimming there, causing gastrointestinal distress, nausea or fatigue. Vulnerable populations, such as the very young or old, are at greater risk.

The consequences of delayed contamination alerts extend beyond public health. When closures happen unexpectedly, hotels, outfitters and water recreation businesses lose revenue with little warning. Municipalities absorb higher costs from emergency public notifications and increased health incident response.

“Delays expose the public to greater health risks and increase medical expenses from waterborne illness,” Alamdari said. “Local economies that depend on recreation and tourism suffer revenue losses when visitors cancel trips or avoid affected areas, while municipalities incur higher operational costs for water testing and emergency response. Repeated advisories can also erode public trust, leading to longer-term declines in visitation and further economic loss.”

Proactive alerts, by contrast, give businesses and government agencies advance notice, reduce unnecessary closures and help communities protect both public health and economic stability. By shifting from reactive to predictive monitoring, communities can better protect public health while reducing unnecessary closures and improving economic resilience.

Risk factors

The study also documents how land use changes intensify contamination. Between 2007 and 2023, urbanization in the study area increased impervious cover from 24% to 28%, altering runoff pathways, leading to more polluted runoff and higher and more variable E. coli levels in streams.

As precipitation patterns grow less predictable, even moderate rainfall events carry elevated contamination risk in urbanized watersheds. The model accounts for rainfall history, streamflow and watershed wetness indicators to improve prediction during those in-between conditions that traditional models often miss.

“Our findings show that every development decision influences water quality and public health, highlighting the need for green infrastructure,” said Imtiaz Syed Usama, a graduate researcher on the team.

Storms compound the problem. E. coli levels can spike within hours of heavy rainfall, but traditional lab testing is too slow to catch those surges before people enter the water.

“Our model flips the script: by combining rainfall, streamflow, turbidity and other hydrometeorological data, it helps predict E. coli risk in near real time and up to a day ahead, including during extreme weather,” said Nasr Azadani Mitra, a graduate researcher at RIDER. “Communities without routine lab testing can still issue early warnings and protect public health.”

This research was supported by grants from Florida State University.

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As the global film industry descends on the 79th Cannes Film Festival beginning May 12, it does so at a pivotal moment: Cinema is redefining who, or what, gets to be considered a creator.  

The rise of generative AI has ignited one of the most consequential debates the industry has faced since the transition from film to digital: Is storytelling still a fundamentally human act?  

The festival recently ruled that any film where generative AI serves as the “principal authoring tool” is ineligible for the Palme d’Or, the highest prize awarded to the director of the best feature film at Cannes. This includes AI-driven scripts, visual generation and principal performance synthesis.   

Jason Maurer, Head of Animation at the Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts, is exploring how AI can be used ethically in creative spaces, with a strong focus on storytelling, filmmaking and animation production pipelines.   

One of his guiding principles for navigating AI and filmmaking is Wharton Associate Professor Ethan Mollick’s four basic rules: Be the human in the loop, invite AI to the table, treat AI like a person and assume this is the worst AI you’ll ever use. Maurer believes that Cannes’ push toward human-centric filmmaking is less a rejection of technology than a defense of authorship.  

“AI is a collaborator, not a creator,” Maurer said. “The ethics around how it’s built are non-negotiable, and the real threat isn’t the tool — it’s the humans wielding it without accountability.”   

Jason Maurer is available to speak with media on these angles that intersect AI and the film industry. He can be reached via email at jmaurer@fsu.edu.   

• Authorship and accountability still belong to humans: AI can speed up production, but it can’t take responsibility for a story. The real debate isn’t about banning AI — it’s about keeping humans accountable for what ends up on screen. 

• Audience trust will hinge on transparency, not technology: Viewers are open to AI-assisted films if the story resonates, but they want honesty about how it was made. The industry’s challenge isn’t AI itself — it’s clearly labeling and owning the creative process. 

• AI is expanding access while raising real ethical risks: The technology is lowering costs and giving indie filmmakers new creative power, but many tools are built on legally and ethically uncertain foundations. The opportunity is huge, but how the industry addresses those risks will define its future. 

Jason Maurer, Head of Animation, FSU College of Motion Picture Arts 

To the average film viewer, much of the AI-generated content might be indistinguishable to actual human content. Are these human-centric stances like what Cannes is doing good for the industry, or are we at a point where we’ve lost the audience’s trust for what is real on the screen? 

Whether it’s good for the industry depends on what we mean by “human centric.” If the standard is that a human directed the work, made the choices and bears the artistic responsibility, then a filmmaker using an ethically sourced AI tool is still making a human-centric film. The human is still in the loop — to borrow Ethan Mollick’s framing, which I apply to my own creative process. We didn’t stop telling stories around the campfire when the printing press arrived. Portrait painting didn’t disappear because of the photograph. Tools change. Authorship doesn’t.  

The animation industry has already lived through this. When CG arrived, the field declared 2D dead — and it nearly was, commercially, in the U.S. for most of the 2000s. Hundreds of traditional animators lost careers in that transition. We should be honest about that. But 2D didn’t die. It evolved, and the medium today is richer for having both languages available. 

Proponents of human-centric cinema endorse its authentic storytelling as one of the standards of film. While generative AI can perhaps maximize efficiencies in film, what makes the human element more important? 

The reframe I’d offer is this: The question isn’t really whether AI can be human-centric. It’s whether humans using AI are operating in good faith.  

Iris Knobloch, the Cannes president, said when announcing the 2026 selection that “AI knows how to imitate very well, but it will never know how to feel.” I’d sharpen that. AI doesn’t need to feel. The humans making the work need to. The humans watching it need to. That’s where the human element actually lives — not in the tool, but in the people on either side of it.  

The deeper case for human-centric storytelling is responsibility. Films are made by people. People can be questioned, credited, sued, hired or fired. Models can’t. As long as humans are answerable for what shows up on screen, we have an industry that can correct itself when something goes wrong. And here’s why that matters for the aesthetic question, not just the legal one: a story someone is staking themselves on is a story that carries weight. Audiences can feel the difference between work someone is answerable for and work that’s been generated to fill a slot. That stake is what authenticity actually is. 

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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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