Rice AI Week 2026 will take place during the week of Oct. 19. AI Week is a cornerstone of Rice’s new WISEowl Campaign, a yearlong initiative supporting the responsible and effective integration of AI across our campus. WISEowl is built around four commitments:
Work Smarter by using AI to reduce friction, improve workflows and create more time for meaningful work.
Inform Decisions by using AI to identify patterns, synthesize information and support stronger judgment, not replace our own.
Safeguard Standards by protecting our data and privacy, evaluating accuracy and upholding Rice’s ethical, academic and operational expectations.
Empower Service by using technology to improve how we serve others while preserving the relationships and human connections that define Rice.
What to Expect
Whether you are an advanced user, a beginner or deliberately designing AI-free classrooms, this week is for you. Across five days of keynotes, panels and workshops, we will explore practical skill-building and the ethical questions surrounding AI.
- Faculty will explore AI-free and AI-enhanced teaching, research and assessment innovations.
- Staff will discover practical ways to optimize workloads and solve operational challenges.
- Students will gain in-demand skills and network with professionals shaping the future.
Open skills sessions will cover core AI literacy, including writing prompts, evaluating outputs, protecting privacy, and maintaining the human touch.
Get Involved
Whether you are looking to learn, connect or raise important questions, there is a place for you:
- Present: Want to showcase an innovative idea, lesson learned or critical question? Submit a presentation proposal here.
- Stay Informed: Register here to be notified when the final schedule and speaker lineup are published at the start of the fall semester.
Questions? Contact us at digital.rice.edu.
WISEowl is a major pillar of Momentous, Rice’s 10-year strategic plan. As we navigate the transformation of higher education, the people who use, limit and question AI will shape our impact. If Rice is to continue to lead regional and national ethical AI discussions, we must start on our own campus.
Many continue asking hard questions about ethics, integrity, access, and privacy. Whether you are actively incorporating AI into workflows or deliberately designing AI-free classrooms, these differing perspectives and approaches will shape the conversations during Rice AI Week 2026.
Across five days of presentations, workshops, demonstrations, and honest conversations, we invite you to explore how AI is being used, questioned, limited, challenged, and reimagined across the university. Rice AI Week 2026 will create space for practical skill-building, discipline-specific exploration, and thoughtful engagement with the ethical, philosophical, and human questions that accompany AI use. Whether you are an enthusiast, skeptic, beginner, advanced user, or someone still trying to understand where AI fits in your work, Rice AI Week 2026 is for you. Join us as we bring together “Rice Voices, Rice Ideas and Rice Values” to shape the future of AI at Rice University.
Rice Voices
Rice AI Week 2026 is a focused week dedicated to accelerating learning from one another, sharing experiences, asking important questions and building a stronger AI community across campus.
- Faculty will have opportunities to see how colleagues are rethinking teaching, assessment, research, academic integrity through both cross-curricular and discipline-specific innovations, whether in AI-free or AI-enhanced learning environments.
- Staff will be able to explore practical ways AI may optimize workloads, improve services, strengthen communication, and solve real operational challenges across units.
- Students will gain in-demand AI skills, explore how AI is reshaping future professions, learn to leverage AI for job and internship searches, and connect with faculty, staff, and peers who are defining the future of learning and research.
Rice AI Week Programming
Rice AI Week 2026 will include:
- Keynotes and featured sessions
- Presentations and discussions by faculty, staff, and students (AI and AI-free practices)
- Hands-on workshops, engaged training sessions, and live demonstrations
- Cross-disciplinary panels on responsible and effective AI use
- Honest conversations about AI-free, AI-enhanced, and AI-questioning practices
Throughout the week, there will be open skills sessions that will cover the core AI literacy including:
- Writing effective prompts and workflows (Work Smarter)
- Evaluating outputs critically (Inform Decisions)
- Protecting data and privacy (Safeguard Standards)
- Maintaining human touch (Empower Service)
Sessions will build shared fluency, allowing us to apply, question, adapt, or challenge AI going forward. All levels are welcome, so start where you are with the tools being offered.
The detailed schedule, speaker information, and engagement opportunities will be announced at the start of the Fall semester. For up to date information, please visit responsibleai.rice.edu.
Rice Ideas
Whether you are looking to learn, connect, contribute, or raise important questions, there is a place for you at Rice AI Week 2026.
Share, Participate, or Present
Submit a presentation proposal and join colleagues in showcasing innovative ideas, emerging practices, lessons learned, critical questions, AI-free approaches, and discipline-specific perspectives from across the Rice community. Click here to submit your presentation proposal.
Stay Informed
If you’re interested in receiving a notification when final events for Rice AI Week 2026 are published, please submit this form. Submission of this form will keep you at the forefront of how AI is transforming teaching, learning, research, creative practice, and operations across the university.
Click here to receive updates.
Contact Us
The Rice AI Week 2026 planning committee is composed of a group of faculty and staff who are coordinating logistics and communication to ensure a great experience for all involved. If you would like to host an event, training or session, please submit the presentation proposal form.
If you have additional questions or concerns, please contact us at digital.rice.edu.
