THRIVE AI initiative boosts projects that maintain the human touch in AI research.
A new College of Arts and Sciences initiative launched this spring connects faculty innovators with active state-wide paths for developing artificial intelligence tools for impactful real-world applications.
THRIVE (Tennessee Human–AI Readiness & Innovation: Ventures in Excellence) advances AI research and its practical applications across disciplines, from the natural sciences and mathematics to the arts, humanities, and social sciences to create rigorous, high-potential applications that show how human–AI collaboration can enhance everyday life in Tennessee.
THRIVE works in conjunction with AI Tennessee, a statewide initiative that supports AI-related innovation, workforce development, and economic growth through cutting-edge research, education, industry collaboration, and transformative platforms like the industry consortium AI TechX. AI Tennessee provides a powerful foundation for THRIVE projects, ensuring alignment with statewide priorities and offering opportunities for broader industry connections.
Proposals Connect Technology, Industry, and Student Experience
The college launched THRIVE by soliciting proposals that align to three primary project needs:
- A substantial human–AI component that applies or develops artificial intelligence methods.
- A Tennessee-based partner—state agency, nonprofit, school district, industry partner, or community group—that will use or benefit from the project’s outcomes.
- An undergraduate experiential learning element, embedding research and problem-solving directly into unparallelled student experiences.
The college received 13 proposal submissions which were evaluated for their alignment with these needs. Projects were awarded funding from $9,000 to $20,000, depending on scope and need for researcher and student stipends, research materials, travel for community engagement, and other project costs.
“We will fund nine projects based on how the proposals met the criteria,” said Professor Liem Tran, associate dean for academic programs. “For the other three or four projects, we will assist them with a modest stipend to help them to bring their proposal to a level that has a higher alignment with the three needed components.”
AI Tennessee will contribute $50,000 in support, with additional support from other sources totaling around $110,000 in seed funding to elevate these pilot projects and connect with further support from federal agencies or private organizations.
These projects will directly benefit student experiences through research participation and internships, embedding students as co-creators throughout the research and engagement cycle.
“These projects will bring students into the interaction with stakeholders to train them for the future workforce,” said Tran. “Then when local stakeholders need people, those students will know the work and have the knowledge to take on those opportunities.”
Winning Research Projects Span Disciplines
Standout proposals moving forward include applying archaeology in gaming, analyzing real-time impact during severe events, and mapping “heat islands” to plan for neighborhood cooling efforts.
Professor of Anthropology Alex Bentley’s project works to create an AI tool for bringing archaeology into gaming worlds, merging social sciences and arts and humanities
“It’s very interdisciplinary. AI Tennessee ranked this one very high because they see potential to bring that to industry,” said Tran.
Assistant Professor Bing Zhou, Department of Geography and Sustainability, leads a project on developing an AI-supported technology for smart disaster management.
“It has potential value in the emergency responses,” said Tran. “They will develop a system that people can use to have a real-time response that is appropriate to their situation.”
Professor Michael McKinney, Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, leads the project to map neighborhood heat islands, urban areas in which a lack of greenery creates higher temperatures.
“This project is very cool and has a very strong undergraduate internship component,” said Tran.
Next steps for the initiative will be to develop detailed reports for each project and establish ways to work with the research teams and AI Tennessee to grow opportunities for impactful industry and community connections across the state.
by Randall Brown