Harvard Chan School Organizes Pilot Series for Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence

Between mid-September and early October 2026, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health organized a four-part pilot series to educate the community on the ethical and mindful use of artificial intelligence in research, data analysis, and career development.

Organized by Jennifer Betancourt, director of education policies at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the pilot series was attended by more than 100 community members. Sessions were held covering topics such as generative artificial intelligence, academic literature research, data analysis in public health, and employers' expectations regarding artificial intelligence skills.

Carrie Wade and Alex Cronin from the Countway Library discussed the capabilities and limitations of large language models, warning against the risks of hallucinated bibliographies and emphasizing that the verification of artificial intelligence content is essential. Lecturer Heather Mattie demonstrated practical applications and potential pitfalls of using artificial intelligence in biostatistical data analysis.

The final session of the series featured an employer panel moderated by Sheila Krishnan. Panelists such as Sonali Verma and Kalé Kponee stated that artificial intelligence can serve as a thought partner, but learning processes should not be delegated entirely to automation tools.