This year’s Head’s Forum was a deep exploration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications, their perceived and real impact on culture, education, and industry, as well as the potential of future advancements of AI. The 2024 program, which is hosted for Grades 11 and 12 students and their parents, was organized by a committee of faculty and staff collaborating across departments. The Head’s Forum program includes presentations by guest speakers and a forum with a panel of students ending with audience Q&A.

This year’s guest panelists included two AI thought leaders, Spence alumna Harper Carroll '14 and Allison Bishop. Carroll was the Head of AI/ML at Brev.dev, focusing on creating AI guides for AI-ready Graphical Processing Units (GPUs). She used her experience in machine learning and software engineering while at Meta, where she created AI/ML solutions for mitigating misinformation both domestically and globally. 

Bishop is the President and Co-Founder of Proof Trading, a startup agency broker-dealer for US equities. She is also a visiting assistant professor of computer science at City College, CUNY, where she teaches graduate courses in adversarial AI and data privacy, and is currently the Vice President of the International Association for Cryptologic Research (IACR).

Upper School students Caroline D. '25, Sophia H. '25, Valentina K. '24, Jaylynn O. '25, Lee Lee S. '24, and Hattie T. '24, and panel moderator Michele Murphy, Director of Curriculum, joined the discussion. Questions from student panelists and audience members focused on a range of topics: from legislation around AI, to the possible decline of human characteristics as AI dependency increases, to anxieties around AI’s continued interference with academic integrity. Focusing this program on Spence juniors and seniors, the Head’s Forum furthers opportunities for intellectual engagement and exploring current topics with guest scholars and experts.  

“It is important for you and your voices—as young people, as women, as unique individuals, as scholars—to be a part of this conversation,” said Head of School Felicia Wilks during her opening remarks. “We simply cannot leave the creation and refinement of a tool that will impact all of us to a small group of individuals. Raising your awareness and understanding of the advances in machine learning, artificial intelligence, and other advances in technology will allow you to ask key questions and to be a part of the crucial decision-making that will impact all of our lives, the ways we live together, and what ultimately it means to be human.”