AI, Knowledge Infrastructure, and the Future of Research

A Strategic Workshop with Guided Hands-On Practice

1:30–1:40 p.m. | Welcome and Introductions

Welcome remarks from Dr. Shahram Rahimi, Department Head of Computer Science, the Lee J. Styslinger Jr. College of Engineering at The University of Alabama

• Introduction of the workshop facilitator and supporting team
• Overview of the workshop goals, agenda, and expected outcomes
• Brief discussion of how AI is beginning to reshape research across engineering disciplines

Workshop Goal

Participants will explore how AI is moving beyond isolated prompting toward persistent research systems supported by structured knowledge, evidence, provenance, retrieval, and human oversight.

1:40–2:40 p.m. | Strategic Presentation and Live Demonstration

AI, Knowledge Infrastructure, and the Future of Research

This session provides the conceptual and strategic foundation for the workshop and demonstrates how AI can work with structured research knowledge. Slides can be downloaded from here.

Dr. Gong also have a minimalism tutorial about how to use AI effectively to advance your research, especially focus on prompt engineering and best practices. It can be downloaded from here.

2:40–2:50 p.m. | Refreshment and Networking Break

A short break for refreshments, informal discussion, and preparation for the hands-on activity.

2:50–4:10 p.m. | Guided Hands-On Build Session

Project: Building a Personal Knowledge System for Research with AI-Assisted Note Organization and Retrieval

Objective: Participants will work with a prepared collection of grant solicitations, faculty profiles, and selected publications to explore how structured knowledge can support research opportunity discovery, team formation, and project ideation.

Materials can be accessed here.

4:10–4:30 p.m. | Show and Tell, Evaluation, and Leadership Discussion

Objective

Participants will share selected outputs from the hands-on activity and discuss how similar systems could support research within their own departments and institutions.

Leadership Discussion

• How could personal knowledge systems evolve into laboratory or department-level infrastructure?
• What research knowledge should remain personal, shared with a team, or managed institutionally?
• How should universities address privacy, intellectual property, provenance, and responsible AI use?
• What infrastructure and training will faculty and students need?
• How might these systems support interdisciplinary collaboration and proposal development?
• How should academic leaders prepare for increasingly agentic research environments?