Thursday, May 14, 20269:30 am - 2:30 pm
Increasingly, individuals rely on generative AI to seek information in both personal and professional domains, including health and wellbeing. Lay individuals use LLM-based, general-purpose chatbots to look up information about diseases and health conditions, check symptoms, and seek clarification and explanations of information they receive from healthcare providers. These trends are not surprising, given the convenience, availability, and low cost of these technologies, as well as their ability to summarize vast amounts of evidence across many health domains. At the same time, they raise important questions about when such reliance is appropriate and how we should understand expertise and authority in an AI-mediated information landscape.
In this workshop, funded by the Columbia Data Science Institute’s Frontiers in Data Science and AI initiative and sponsored by the AI for Social Good and Society (AI4SGS) Initiative, we will explore questions of knowledge and expertise in the context of AI. We will examine different perspectives on the perception of AI as an expert and discuss their implications for fairness and integrity. The workshop will bring together a panel of leading scholars in medicine, social work, nursing, public health, law, computer science, and philosophy, along with community partners, to reflect on a case study followed by a general discussion. Our goal is to spark critical dialogue and foster new collaborations around the responsible use of AI in health delivery, education, and research.
Registration Request Form
Registration Request Form: Registration will be prioritized for Columbia faculty, postdoctoral researchers, affiliated scholars, and invited external guests. If you are a student, you may be waitlisted to attend until closer to the event date. All who submit a registration request will receive a confirmation email and a calendar invitation if your registration is approved. Thank you again for your interest in attending!
Location: Columbia School of Social Work (Room C05)Address: 1255 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10027 – MapTiming: Breakfast from 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM; Workshop from 10:30 AM – 1:30 PM; Networking Lunch from 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
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9:30 AM: Doors Open for Networking Breakfast (60 min)
10:30 AM – 10:45 AM: Welcome & Framing Remarks (15 min)
10:45 AM – 11:30 AM: Panel: AI as a New Health Information Expert (45 min)
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM: Case Study & Structured Panel Discussion (60 min)
12:30 PM – 1:00 PM: Roundtable Discussions – Small-group conversations focused on opportunities, risks, and open questions, led by the workshop organizers (30 min)
1:00 PM – 1:30 PM: Synthesis & Visioning – Group report-outs, panelist reflections, and forward-looking insights (30 min)
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM: Lunch & Networking (60 min)
The workshop is intended for Columbia faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and affiliated scholars interested in:
The session is designed to foster cross-disciplinary learning and to seed new research and practice partnerships.
Timothy J Crimmins, MDChief Medical Information Officer (CMIO) for Columbia Doctors
Timothy Crimmins serves as Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO) for Columbia Doctors, where he works to ensure that health information technology serves the needs of patients and care teams. He also serves as Medical Director of the Non-Invasive Vascular Medicine Lab, where ultrasound is used for the diagnosis of vascular disorders. His clinical interests include vascular medicine, non-invasive vascular diagnosis, and general internal medicine. He is committed to patient-centered care and leveraging health systems and technology to deliver high-quality, accessible care.
Eugene Wu, PhDAssociate Professor, Department of Computer Science, Columbia Engineering
Eugene Wu is an associate professor of computer science at Columbia University and Co-director of the new Data, Agents, and Processes Lab (DAPLab). He is broadly interested in the foundations of computing infrastructure that are needed in a future where AI agents can safely, reliably, and efficiently automate complex work. His research spans the computing stack, from visualization and HCI to core data systems. Eugene Wu has received the VLDB 2018 10-year test of time award, best-of-conference citations at ICDE and VLDB, the SIGMOD 2016 and 2025 best demo awards, the NSF CAREER, and the Google, Adobe, and Amazon faculty awards.
Alexis Walker, PhDAssistant Professor, Department of Medical Humanities and Ethics, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Alexis Walker, PhD is an interdisciplinary scholar trained in Science and Technology Studies (STS), political anthropology, organizational studies, and bioethics. Her research investigates the social dynamics of financial and private sector organizations in health and medicine. She is currently Principal Investigator on a four-year project (2019-2023) examining perspectives from members of the commercial genomics industry on the social and ethical dynamics of their field. This work is funded by an Early Career Investigator award (K99/R00) from the National Human Genome Research Institute.
Meghan Reading Turchioe, PhD, MPH, RN, FAHAAssistant Professor, School of Nursing, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Meghan Reading Turchioe’s program of research focuses on developing and implementing digital health technologies including mobile applications, wearable devices, telehealth, and artificial intelligence (AI). A major focus of her work involves leveraging methods from data visualization, human-computer interaction, and implementation science to return health data and support decision-making among patients, nurses, and other clinicians. With a focus on developing equitable solutions, her research is motivated by her experience as a cardiac nurse caring for a diverse patient population with multiple chronic conditions in New York City. Turchioe’s research is supported by multiple grants from NIH and industry.
Susan McGregor, MAResearch Scholar, Center for Data, Media & Society Co-Chair, Data Science Institute, Columbia University
Susan McGregor has co-authored a wide range of academic papers and book chapters and is the solo author of two books: Information Security Essentials: A Guide for Reporters, Editors and Newsroom Leaders (Columbia University Press, 2021) and Practical Python: Data Wrangling and Data Quality (O’Reilly, 2021). McGregor’s research primarily centers on security, privacy and information integrity issues affecting the media and educational organizations. Recent projects include investigating the potential of cryptographic content provenance guarantees for digital text, the potential of peer support for fostering persistence among both journalists and educators, and novel interface designs for enhancing community authenticity on YouTube and other online platforms. Her research work in these and related areas has received support from the National Science Foundation, the Knight Foundation, Google, multiple schools and offices of Columbia University, and others.
Event Co-Host: Juanita Hotchkiss, MSWDirector of Community and Incarcerated Programs, Ulster County Sheriff’s Office
Juanita Hotchkiss is a Licensed Master Social Worker and serves as Director of Community & Incarcerated Services with the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office. She leads cross-sector initiatives that integrate public health, social services, and the justice system, with a focus on substance use, mental health, and reentry support. Juanita plays a central role in convening community coalitions and people with lived experience to design harm-reduction and overdose-prevention strategies. Her work emphasizes equity, community voice, and trust-building across systems to improve outcomes for individuals and families impacted by justice involvement.
Lena MamykinaAssociate Professor of Biomedical Informatics, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Nabila El-BasselUniversity Professor; Willma and Albert Musher Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work, Columbia University
James DavidHEALing Communities Study (HCS) Senior Project Director, Columbia University School of Social Work’s (CSSW) Social Intervention Group (SIG)
Xuhai Orson XuAssistant Professor, Biomedical Informatics, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Steve KilburnProjects Director, Chautauqua County Department of Mental Hygiene
The workshop is designed as a multidisciplinary, community-engaged dialogue rather than a traditional conference. Participants from a range of disciplines will engage alongside community partners with lived experience to examine how AI systems are being built, deployed, and experienced in the real world. At the center of the workshop is a shared case study that presents realistic scenarios. Panelists will analyze the case together, drawing on their disciplinary and professional perspectives. The goal is not consensus, but a rigorous, structured exploration of tensions, including questions of clinical responsibility, user safety, algorithmic bias, emotional dependency, regulatory gaps, and ethical design.
A defining feature of this workshop is its community-centered co-design. Community co-hosts, who have been involved in shaping the agenda and discussion questions, will participate as equal contributors alongside academic and professional experts. Their perspectives ensure that the conversation remains grounded in how AI is actually used, experienced, and trusted, or mistrusted, by people in everyday life. This structure reflects the AI4SGS Initiative’s commitment to justice-oriented, participatory approaches to technology development and evaluation.