Artificial intelligence isn’t just coming—it’s already here. So what now?

That’s the question Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management will tackle in its “AI and the Future of Work” symposium on Thursday, April 23, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Tinkham Veale University Center on the CWRU campus, 11038 Bellflower Road.

Andrew Medvedev, dean of CWRU's Weatherhead School of Management.The conference, aimed at business leaders, academics, and students, will focus on how AI is transforming business, leadership, and society. The event will feature keynote presentations, breakout sessions, expert panels, faculty flash talks, and an innovation showcase highlighting applied AI research and real-world use cases.

Andrew Medvedev, dean of the Weatherhead School of Management, says the event will allow people to come together as a group to discuss the future of AI in the economy.

“One of the most underrated aspects of a business school is using it as a public square,” he observes, “using our power to convene.”

“It’s rare to get academics, entrepreneurs, executives, and young people working side-by-side to solve problems in a really interactive way,” he says, noting the diverse crowd expected at the event.

Attendees will walk away with new insights and ideas for incorporating AI, Medvedev says. “AI pushes all of us to ask, ‘why not?’ instead of ‘why?’” he explains. “We will provide examples and ideas of how we can incorporate AI into our lives in ways we haven’t done before.”

Weatherhead’s aim is not just to teach students about AI but also train attendees to graduate ready to lead in AI.

“We want to make sure our students graduate leading the world of AI, as opposed to learning about it,” he says. “A lot of schools are running AI panels. We’re running a school around the core premise that AI changes what it means to be useful in an organization.”

Medvedev says AI is more of an opportunity than a threat.

“AI is a threat to a certain way of doing business,” he explains. “AI is making content and, I’d almost argue, cognition less and less valuable. But when cognition gets cheap, judgment gets expensive.

CWRU Weatherhead School of Management.“AI will be an enormous lever for people who already have agency,” Medvedev concedes. “That’s something business schools and management schools need to be honest about embracing.”

He says he also sees AI as an opportunity for Northeast Ohio. “People say all the action is happening on the coasts—I’d argue that’s a 2015 way of thinking about things,” Medvedev says. “Northeast Ohio is home to some of the most complex companies in the world—health care, manufacturing—AI will drive value and show up in those companies first.

“Ohio has advantages for housing AI infrastructure,” he adds. “We have water, land, and proximity to key demand centers. I’m a huge bull on the region; I couldn’t be more excited about this time for us.”

Keynote speakers at the Weatherhead symposium include Fay Cobb Payton, an expert in healthcare IT, informatics, and AI/data bias, who will present “AI Data Lifecycles: The What and the Why;” and AI complexity researcher Morgan Frank, who will explore “The Value of Higher Education in the Age of AI.”

Registration is $149. For more information or to register for the event, visit the symposium site.