The following story originally appeared as an online exclusive for the W&M Alumni Magazine. – Ed.

Before arriving on campus for his first semester in 2024, Tucker Peters ’28 had already designed two artificial intelligence-powered apps. With the incredible number of clubs offered at William & Mary, he was sure he’d find one centered around artificial intelligence (AI), also described as augmented intelligence. When he didn’t, he decided to start one himself to empower students from all backgrounds to learn, innovate, lead responsibly and act ethically in the field of artificial intelligence — and a club focused on AI would do just that.

Peters’ interest in AI started due to his curiosity about finance and the stock market. The summer before starting at W&M, he says, “I made a stock market-like trading application that beat the market.” It was his first exposure to AI.

“I didn’t have a technical background before that,” he recalls. With the help of his friends back home in Westport, Connecticut, Peters taught himself to code, and he used that skill to create GenEdu.co, an AI-powered tool designed to help students succeed through personalized tutoring and research assistance.

At William & Mary, Peters found a mentor and community eager to help him launch the W&M AI Club. He connected with Dean Doug Schmidt ’84, M.A. ’86, who leads W&M’s new School of Computing, Data Sciences & Physics, for advice on starting the club, which already has around 80 members.

“The fact that I can get in front of Dean Schmidt and actually talk to him about these things and talk to all these amazing faculty … that’s why I chose William & Mary,” Peters says. “I wanted a community that would be supportive and would help foster growth.”

Peters’ efforts align with W&M’s expanding focus on computing and data sciences. The new school, which opened in July, will offer students new academic pathways — including an upcoming AI minor jointly managed by the computer science and data science departments.

Like the printing press or the internet, AI is a disruptive innovation — it makes information more accessible, while being susceptible to misinformation. Peters believes the key to using AI responsibly is education.

The W&M AI Club has three pillars — education, research and project development, and marketing and management. “We’re going to be doing a lot of activities that enable students to take on projects like creating apps or creating their own tutor,” Peters says. “Every single job in the next five years is going to require some understanding of AI.”

W&M alumni boast excellent outcomes. He believes W&M students “are going to be even more powerful. They’re going to have a liberal arts and sciences education with tangible AI skills on their resume.”

The W&M AI Club will help more than the students. Peters also wants faculty members to develop a greater comfort level with the use of AI. “The goal is to enhance what’s already happening on campus. We want to act as almost a consultative service for departments to make them more efficient and incorporate AI into their processes.”

The club will host “cheat-a-thons” (a clever take on hack-a-thons) to show the ways AI can be used to complete assignments, helping faculty members create AI-resistant projects and exams. Peters is also planning an AI Week to educate the community about AI’s rapid growth, its capabilities and the importance of using it ethically and responsibly.

“They will be instrumental in helping ensure that William & Mary students are proficient with cutting-edge ways of using AI for all kinds of interesting projects in many fields,” said Schmidt. “I’m very optimistic that the AI Club will help change the future of William & Mary faster than deans or administrators conveying high-level visions, due to their grassroots approach and close connection with the student culture.”