By: Matthew Phillips 

Troy University hosted the Grow Southeast Alabama Conference on June 25, focusing on accelerating artificial intelligence (AI) education and innovation in the region.

James Locke, PhD, executive director of the Center for AI Research and Education at Troy’s Sorrell College of Business, highlighted AI’s transformative potential. “Through AI, we gain wisdom over time,” Locke said. 

He emphasized AI’s power to detect patterns and predict outcomes, helping both researchers and businesses, mentioning that most companies lack large research and development (R&D) budgets. Locke said, “We want to help you figure this out.”

Locke also stressed the importance of AI adoption for economic development and workforce readiness. 

“Vendors are going to crop up; capitalism is okay, and we encourage that,” he said. “Companies survive because of their ability to use algorithms and data you may have that could be beneficial. We want to get started adopting these technologies in organizations, as it is important for economic development and building a knowledgeable workforce.”

A major announcement was the upcoming installation of an NVIDIA DGX B200 AI system at Troy University, set to be installed sometime this summer. 

“Troy University will have the most powerful GP AI machine of any business school in the nation,” Locke mentioned. “There are universities that possess significantly more advanced systems than this one, but that is the availability being university-wide.”

The in-house NVIDIA machine offers incredible processing power without relying on the cloud, enabling extensive AI research. 

Ultimately, he cautioned that we should view AI as a tool, not a panacea, or solution. 

“None of this is a panacea and is not going to make you great at anything, as you still have to work on yourself, but do work in wisdom and make an explanation,” he emphasized.  

This conference was designed to showcase Troy University’s commitment to fostering AI and supporting regional economic growth.