The Learning Innovation Incubator at Vanderbilt

The Library is hosting a fall workshop for faculty whose research involves text and data mining, particularly as it relates to current events. The workshop will first provide an overview of Databricks a serverless data intelligence platform that offers robust storage, computing & technical governance capabilities. 

Then, participants will engage in a roundtable discussion on how such platforms like this can better support access and management of social media data for faculty research in the future. Coffee and light refreshments will be provided. 

Chat-based platforms such as WhatsApp and Discord are popular ways to communicate. From past research we know that these platforms are also commonly used for spreading disinformation and for radicalization. With the emergence of realistic AI-powered chatbots those risks have increased. Rather than recruiting hundreds of low-paid workers, foreign governments, disinformers, and other propagandists can instead create thousands of human-sounding bots

There is a long history of social science research on persuasion and how people change their beliefs and attitudes, however, little research has focused on complex and dynamic interactions (such as those that occur on chat platforms). Instead, most research examines how passive exposure to information (e.g., on social media) affects our beliefs and actions. There is a real need to move beyond this simple model of exposure and to instead study contexts where people are both consumers and producers of information. Interactive conversations involve multiple processes including reading information from others, asking questions, building on the existing information, and arguments about which perspective is correct.

Lisa and her team have created a platform in which research participants can chat with one or more LLM-driven persona-agents. These agents can be programmed with different types of personalities, knowledge levels, beliefs, and goals. Her team can then examine how human participants react to different types of agents and which kinds of conversations lead to persuasion and/or harmful beliefs. 

The Sullivan Family Ideator, a NSF Regional I-Corps program offered by the Wond'ry, Vanderbilt University's Innovation Center, is a localized version of the National Science Foundation's I-Corps program, which provides training, mentoring, and resources to help researchers, students, and faculty commercialize technology-based innovations into the marketplace. The program seeks to equip innovators with essential tools and a proactive mindset to test assumptions, identify genuine customer needs, and make evidence-based decisions about their innovations. This experiential and collaborative program is designed to address the pivotal question: Is there a market for my idea?

The next cohort will meet from October 28 to December 3, 2025, in 6 sessions over 5 weeks, with optional Pitch Practice and Pitch Day. Participants will engage in activities including weekly presentation, worksheets, 20 customer discovery interviews, and office hours. This program invites faculty, students, researchers, and innovators who are exploring pathways to impact and entrepreneurship, as well as teams looking to validate whether their innovation truly meets customer needs.

Applications close October 13

Neurotech Frontiers Summit is a national gathering on the future of assistive and inclusive technology with sessions on social entrepreneurship pathways, inclusive learning, innovative technologies and more. The Summit showcases advances in artificial intelligence, robotics, software platforms, VR and assistive devices that empower individuals and features a pitch competition showcasing ground breaking ideas.

The conference is kindly providing complimentary entry to the the LIVE community. Email LIVE@vanderbilt.edu for the registration code.

October 8

Fall Break

No Session

 

October 15

LLM Persona-Agents for Social Science Research

Lisa Fazio (Peabody College)

October 22

LIVE Ignite Grant Advances in EdTech Development

Ignite Grant Recipients

Explore the full lineup of Fall 2025 events at the link below