2nd Annual

Maine AI Conference

Friday, June 13, 2025 • Orono, Maine

Democratizing AI for Maine

Artificial Intelligence, broadly defined, has unleashed the potential for impact on every aspect of our lives, mainly due to advancements in computing speed and software development.

  • Is your business ready for the new economy led by AI?
  • Are you interested in learning how AI will change the workplace?Do you have exciting developments and ideas to share?
  • Do you have exciting developments and ideas to share?

The Maine AI Conference brings together industry, academia, and government experts to explore opportunities and challenges that can transform research, teaching, and business processes.

Looking for Lodging?
Check out Hotel Ursa right on the UMaine Campus.

Agenda and Panels

8:30 a.m. – Check-In & Coffee Networking
9:15 a.m. – Opening Remarks by D
ean Giovanna Guidoboni, Maine College of Engineering and Computing
9:30 a.m. – Panel 1- AI for Teaching & Creativity
10:30 a.m.- Break/Poster Session
11:00 a.m. – AI Data Quality
12:00 Noon- Lunch/Poster Session
1:00 p.m.- Panel 3 – AI Security and Alignment
2:00 p.m. – Panel 4- AI Regulations and Legal Risks
3:00 p.m.- Break/Poster Session
3:30 p.m. – Closing Remarks
4:00 p.m. – Adjournment

AI for Teaching & Creativity

9:30 a.m. Hutchins Concert Hall, Collins Center for the Arts

Panelists

Moderator:
Peter Schilling

Executive Director, Innovation in Teaching and Learning
University of Maine
Peter focuses on the application of current pedagogical theories and information technologies in college instruction. He helps UMaine embrace new collaboration tools, data sets, digital fabrication, and genAI as they change higher education.


Eryk Salvaggio

A blend of hacker, researcher, designer and artist. He is a researcher on AI pedagogies at the metaLab (at) Harvard University and an artist in residence at the Max-Planck Institute at the Bibliotheca Hertziana in Rome.

Moderator: Jon Ippolito

AI focus is creators—writers, programmers, and media makers—and how the technical, aesthetic, and legal ramifications of generative AI empower and frustrate them.

basic silhouette as place holder

Greg Nelson


AI Data Quality

11:00 a.m. Hutchins Concert Hall, Collins Center for the Arts
The AI Data Quality panel explores the role of generative AI and its data quality in different domains from the perspectives of engineers, historians, and artists. You will see how engineers use large language tools to enhance power-grid simulations against real-world data; how artists lead community workshops to reshape digital heirlooms and rethink the rules of memory; and how historians experiment with OCR-driven workflows to breathe new life into archival texts, even as they uncover the misreads and trade-offs that call for careful stewardship of every generated result. By viewing the role of AI-generated data in different domains, we will bring insight into the effectiveness of these models and future trends to improve their quality.

Panelists

A portrait of Behrooz Mansouri

Moderator:
Behrooz Mansouri

Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southern Maine. His primary research interests include Information Retrieval and Natural Language Processing.

Shengen Chen

Senior Power System Engineer at RLC Engineering. His NERC MOD studies use AI to optimize renewable performance, halving errors with field data. At Maine AI Conference 2025, he’ll discuss data quality for AI in power systems.

Samuel Backer

Assistant Professor of History at the University of Maine, where he researches American cultural history, the history of capitalism, and the computational humanities.

Janna Ahrndt

Creates work utilizing creative coding, video, textiles, and altered household electronics. As a product of a working-class family in Northern Indiana, their work follows themes of labor, the internet, politics, and gender.

AI Security & Alignment Panel

1:00 p.m. Hutchins Concert Hall, Collins Center for the Arts
Panel Description: AI is advancing at lightning speed, but with great power comes great responsibility. As these systems grow more sophisticated, the stakes get higher—whether it’s a chatbot spreading misinformation, a deepfake bypassing security protocols, or a powerful model making decisions that impact real lives. That’s where AI Security and Alignment step in. Security is the digital armor that defends against adversarial attacks, data poisoning, and model manipulation. Alignment, on the other hand, attempts to ensure these systems remain grounded in human values and societal goals, rather than going rogue or reinforcing harmful biases. At the AI Security and Alignment panel, expect cutting-edge insights, lively debates, and innovative strategies to future-proof AI for a world that’s only just waking up to its potential. Don’t just watch the AI revolution—help secure and align it for good.

Panelists

Moderator:
Julia Upton

Associate Professor of Mathematics, Certified AI Expert, AI Developer, and AI Red Teaming Professional (AIRTP+)

Kris Carlton

Author: Safe AGI via Distributed Ledger Technology; Provably Safe AGI via Interactive Proofs. Harvard Medical School: computational modeling of neurological disorders. Chair Seminar on Natural and Artificial Computation, Rowland Institute of Science.

Prabuddah Chakraborty

Prabuddha Chakraborty is an Assistant Professor at the University of Maine. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Florida. He is a recipient of the IEEE TTTC’s E. J. McCluskey Best Doctoral Thesis Award (2022).

John Sherman

John Sherman is the Director of Public Engagement at the Center for AI Safety and host of For Humanity: An AI Risk Podcast. John lead CAIS’s national efforts to bring AI safety into the public conversation.

AI Regulations & Legal Risks

2:00 p.m. Hutchins Concert Hall, Collins Center for the Arts

Panelists

A portrait of Umesh Hodeghatta

Moderator:
Umesh Hodeghatta

Associate Professor of Applied Machine Intelligence and Analytics
The Roux Institute at Northeastern University

Justin Cary

Justin Cary represents private and public entities and Tribal Nations in all manner of employment and labor, technology regulation and management, and decisions involving Artificial Intelligence.

Daniel Matz

Daniel Matz works in the Maine Governor’s Office. His work includes supporting Maine’s AI Task Force, spurring workforce and economic innovation, and tracking/implementing federal infrastructure funding. He holds degrees from Colgate and UT Austin.

Organizing Committee

Ali Abedi, UMaine AI Initiative

John Burns, UMaine Strategic Partnerships and Innovation (SPIRE)

Matthew Dube, University of Maine at Augusta

Anne Heberger Marino, UMaine Portland Gateway

Umesh Hodeghatta, The Roux Institute at Northeastern University

Jon Ippolitto, University of Maine

Rebecca Kennedy, University of Maine Research

Reihaneh Maarefdoust, University of Maine AI Research Associate

Behrooz Mansouri, University of Southern Maine

Ashanti Maxworth, University of Southern Maine

Erin Miller, UMaine Research

Mindy Pelletier, UMaine AI

Julia Upton, Husson University

Pips Veazey, UMaine Portland Gateway

2024 Conference information

The inaugural Maine AI Conference brought together leading thinkers from business, research, education and policy sectors who use AI to advance the greater good.

A discussion panel at the 2024 Maine AI Conference.
Portland Press Herald: "Maine university system holds first conference on artificial intelligence"
News Center Maine: "'How to use it the right way': Conference aims to help Mainers learn to navigate life with AI"

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Hosted by the University of Maine and the University of Southern Maine with support from the University of Maine Portland Gateway.