The nationally renowned UI Debate Team will take the stage for this panel event to explore the environmental impact of artificial intelligence and discuss the role of responsible and sustainable approaches to AI development and use.
Topic: The Debate Over AI’s Environmental Impact – How should society balance AI innovation and environmental sustainability?
Barry Thomas, senior vice provost, will give a brief introduction before the debate. Paul Bellus, coordinator of forensics for the A. Craig Baird Debate Forum, will moderate.
At the conclusion of the debate, audience members will have the opportunity to ask questions of the participants.
Debaters:
Lily Severson is a senior UI pre-law student pursuing dual honors degrees in economics and political science. Her engagement with AI policy spans competitive debate and academic research. In 2024, she joined the A. Craig Baird Debate Forum, Iowa’s intercollegiate policy debate team, and placed ninth in the nation at last year’s national debate tournament.
Maile Huffman is a UI graduate and current PhD candidate in philosophy specializing in the ethics of artificial intelligence, with broader interests spanning AI, applied ethics, and social ontology. Maile coaches students in Ethics Bowl at Iowa and serves as an assistant coach for the A. Craig Baird Debate Forum, where she competed as an undergraduate debater.
About the A. Craig Baird Debate Forum
The A. Craig Baird Debate Forum is the home of intercollegiate debate at the University of Iowa and is one of the nation’s most distinguished collegiate forensics organizations. Iowa Debate has earned 13 national championships since 1989, including the 2025 Cross Examination Debate Association National Championship.
A note about this debate: Participants are assigned prior to the debate. They are responsible to faithfully represent the arguments of that side. Their arguments expressed do not necessarily reflect the attitudes and beliefs of the speaker.
Learn more about the AI and Society Panel Series on the AI at Iowa website.