KINGSTON, R.I. – Oct. 14, 2025 – Artificial intelligence and education garner plenty of mainstream attention—sometimes too much. But in a counterintuitive way, this over-hype actually makes society less prepared for the realities of learning in an AI world.

Innovation thought-leader Richard Culatta will help attendees at the University of Rhode Island’s 2025 Honors Colloquium explore the portrait of an AI graduate—the skills students must be able to demonstrate before graduation in order to thrive and survive in an AI world.

Culatta will explore “Using AI to Become Better at Being Human” on Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 5:30 p.m. at Edwards Hall at 64 Upper College Road.

Hosted by the Honors Program, URI’s premier lecture series is examining the evolving landscape of public education. Culatta will speak as part of the fall colloquium series, “Education, Behind the Curtains,” which will also be livestreamed (link available on the colloquium website).

Culatta is CEO of ISTE+ASCD and former executive director of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology, where he led efforts to advance digital equity, personalized learning, and the responsible use of AI within education. He previously served as chief innovation officer for Rhode Island and was a founding board member of the local education nonprofit College Unbound. Culatta also authored the book Digital for Good: Raising Kids to Thrive in an Online World. Culatta began his career as a high school Spanish teacher.

Culatta’s lecture will be followed on Oct. 28 by Eric Felix, of San Diego State University, who studies higher education reform with a focus on community colleges and policy implementation. A full roster of speakers can be found on the Honors Colloquium site.

This year’s URI Honors Colloquium, led by URI’s College of Education, will conclude in December with a panel on the state of education in Rhode Island.

This evening’s talk is co-sponsored by URI’s John Hazen White Sr. Center for Ethics and Public Service.

Hosted by the University’s Honors Program, the annual URI Honors Colloquium is free and open to the public. To see recordings of last year’s speakers, or past colloquiums, visit the Honors Colloquium Archives. Sign up here for more information and reminders for colloquium events or by emailing urihonors@etal.uri.edu.