UVA Launches Institute at Darden School of Business to Focus on Artificial Intelligence

The LaCross AI Institute will enable UVA to coordinate and magnify its research, teaching and engagement in AI across schools, institutes and research centers.

“Now is the time for institutions like the University of Virginia to convene resources and apply them to shape what likely will be the most impactful technology of our lifetimes,” UVA Provost Ian Baucom said. “Building on the Darden School’s strengths in educating responsible business leaders and thought leadership on the role of business in society, the LaCross AI Institute will continue to accelerate the University’s impact.”

From voice-enabled virtual assistants to AI-enabled drug discoveries, new technology is rapidly moving to the forefront of public attention. The rise of large language AI models like ChatGPT and Gemini being used in everyday functions is raising ethical concerns, including the reliability and quality of training data, the transparency of AI models, and how the technology will affect jobs.

Dean Scott Beardsley said the institute represents an opportunity for Darden School to combine its core strengths – such as business ethics, stakeholder theory and technological innovation – and apply them to the promise and challenges of artificial intelligence.

“AI is already a multi-trillion-dollar business and demands comprehensive solutions. Our students are hungry for AI-relevant skills and knowledge and the LaCross AI Institute can explore the business opportunities of AI across sectors and also define what ethical leadership means in the age of artificial intelligence,” Beardsley said.

“Our faculty have worked for decades to infuse ethics into everything we teach and value, and this positions Darden perfectly to set a standard and example for how ethics must be embedded into the development and integration of AI in business, while also exploring the business of AI itself.”

Beardsley will chair the institute’s advisory council, which includes numerous UVA school leaders. Darden Professors Yael Grushka-Cockayne and Raj Venkatesan will serve as academic directors of the institute. They are part of a growing group of Darden and UVA faculty involved in AI instruction, research, and practice in education and business settings.

In October 2023, the LaCross family announced a historic gift of $101 million to Darden, indicating their hope to provide $50 million to establish a Darden-led AI institute to collaborate with UVA schools and initiatives. The gift has been expanded to fund professorships in ethical AI in business, including a University Professorship and a practitioner chair.

“The aspiration is for this institute to facilitate teaching, research, the creation of practical knowledge and meaningful conversations that allow business and society to embrace the continued expansion of artificial intelligence in ways that account for its effect on human beings,” Dave LaCross said. “Kathy and I are thrilled to support the University of Virginia and the Darden School of Business in this important work.”

The LaCross family’s $62 million AI investment at Darden is one of the largest AI gifts to any business school in the world.

For more information about the LaCross Institute for Ethical Artificial Intelligence in Business, visit the Darden School of Business website.