Cornell launches AI Integration Pilots and expands AI Undergraduate Fellows program

Cornell's AI Initiative announced on September 17, 2026 that it is launching AI Integration Pilots, letting colleges experiment with AI adoption and avoidance around core teaching elements in their disciplines. It is also expanding the AI Undergraduate Fellows program, in which students serve as embedded researchers working with faculty to evaluate AI in classrooms. The two initiatives are supported by a $2 million gift from the Dake family and additional support from the Office of the Provost, with pilots running in spring 2027, fall 2027 and spring 2028.

The event moves AI education discussion from generic tool adoption toward discipline-specific teaching reform with assessment and result-sharing mechanisms, offering a reference for how universities organize AI teaching pilots. For faculty, teams must consider both adopting and avoiding AI, which may change course design and assessment. For students, undergraduate fellows participating in research may affect how student perspectives weigh in AI teaching decisions. The limitation is that only a planning framework has been announced, with no pilot results or learning outcome data yet. Colleges must identify a core teaching element to reform and assemble three-to-five-member faculty teams before 2027, potentially adjusting courses and assessments. Undergraduate fellows as embedded researchers will feed student experience into Cornell's evidence base on AI in teaching.