September 3, 2026

This message is distributed to All Instructors, Non-Senate Academics, and Graduate Student Researchers. (Click here to view description of distribution groups.)

The following is being sent on behalf of Johannes Steffens, Director of Communications and External Relations, UCSB Library

Dear Colleagues,

UCSB Library and the UCSB AI Community of Practice, AI for Research Special Interest Group, cordially invite you to the fourth installment of the new speaker series, AI in Action: Conversations with UCSB Researchers.

AI in Action: Miguel Eckstein & Arpit Gupta
Date & Time: Tuesday, September 29, 4:00-5:00 PM
Location: UCSB Library, Instruction & Training 1312 (1st Floor, Mountain Side)
Registration: Register Now

Even when casually looking around, humans make three to four eye movements per second without conscious thought. For generations, scientists have wondered if these automatic gaze patterns serve a particular purpose. In his presentation titled “Why We Look Where We Look: How AI Answered an Age-Old Human Mystery,” Dr. Miguel Eckstein (Psychological & Brain Sciences) will reveal how building human visual traits into an artificial intelligence agent helped solve this long-standing puzzle. He will share how AI trained to comprehend scenes naturally mirrored human viewing habits, proving that our everyday gaze is actually an optimal strategy to quickly process the world around us.

The Internet shapes nearly every part of modern life, yet keeping it performant, fair, and reliable remains surprisingly hard. In his presentation titled “Making the ‘Net’ Work in the Agentic Era,” Dr. Arpit Gupta (Computer Science) will discuss how his team uses AI to accelerate networking research, inform broadband policy, and move toward networks that run themselves.

Registration and Additional Information
The event is free and open to the public. Advance registration is strongly recommended. Please find attached the event flyer to share with colleagues and students interested in the use of AI in research.

About AI in Action
AI in Action aims to foster an open, interdisciplinary community exploring how AI can deepen understanding, expand access to knowledge, and inspire new forms of scholarship. The series showcases how UCSB researchers are using innovative applications of AI and machine learning, from accelerating materials science and environmental modeling to uncovering new insights in language, art, and history.

Each event features two presentations by UCSB researchers on innovative applications of AI in their research, followed by a 30-minute moderated discussion on broader trends, challenges, and ethical considerations.

AI in Action is co-led by UCSB Library and the UCSB AI Community of Practice, AI for Research Special Interest Group, with support from the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, Office of Research, Office of Teaching and Learning, Marine Science Institute, and National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis.

For more information, please visit: https://www.library.ucsb.edu/ai-in-action.

Regards,

Johannes Steffens
Director of Communications and External Relations
UCSB Library
jsteffens@ucsb.edu