{"id":94728,"date":"2026-02-24T09:32:35","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T15:32:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=94728"},"modified":"2026-02-24T09:32:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T15:32:37","slug":"science-cafe-highlights-the-role-of-artificial-intelligence-in-advancing-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=94728","title":{"rendered":"Science Cafe highlights the role of artificial intelligence in advancing research"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>By RORY MOORE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Tiger Media Network<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fort Hays State University\u2019s Science and Mathematics Education Institute hosted the AI for Advancing Research Across Diverse Disciplines Science Cafe at the Venue on Monday. The presenter was FHSU Associate Professor of Computer Science Anas Hourani, who delivered a lecture on how Artificial Intelligence and machine learning techniques have transformed research across various fields by enabling the extraction of knowledge from large-scale data.\u00a0\u00a0<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow aligncenter\" data-effect=\"slide\"><div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_container swiper-container\"><ul class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_swiper-wrapper swiper-wrapper\"><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"790\" height=\"303\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-94733\" data-id=\"94733\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-1-of-6.jpg?resize=790%2C303\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-1-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C393 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-1-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=370%2C142 370w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-1-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=150%2C58 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-1-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C295 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-1-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C589 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-1-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C786 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-1-of-6-scaled.jpg?w=2370 2370w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">Anas Hourani, Associate Professor of Computer Science, presents the AI for Advancing Research Across Diverse Disciplines Science Cafe. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"790\" height=\"686\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-94732\" data-id=\"94732\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-2-of-6.jpg?resize=790%2C686\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-2-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C889 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-2-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C260 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-2-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=150%2C130 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-2-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C667 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-2-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1333 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-2-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1778 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-2-of-6-scaled.jpg?w=2370 2370w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">Speaking on how data growth has impacted research and the use of AI in numerous fields. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"790\" height=\"605\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-94731\" data-id=\"94731\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-3-of-6.jpg?resize=790%2C605\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-3-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C784 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-3-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=340%2C260 340w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-3-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=150%2C115 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-3-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C588 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-3-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1176 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-3-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1568 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-3-of-6-scaled.jpg?w=2370 2370w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">Hourani speaking on how valuable AI is based on its knowledge. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"790\" height=\"523\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-94730\" data-id=\"94730\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-4-of-6.jpg?resize=790%2C523\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-4-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C678 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-4-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=370%2C245 370w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-4-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=150%2C99 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-4-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C508 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-4-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1017 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-4-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1356 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-4-of-6-scaled.jpg?w=2370 2370w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">Defining the definition of AI.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"790\" height=\"347\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-94729\" data-id=\"94729\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-5-of-6.jpg?resize=790%2C347\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-5-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C450 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-5-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=370%2C163 370w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-5-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=150%2C66 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-5-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C338 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-5-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C676 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-5-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C901 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-5-of-6-scaled.jpg?w=2370 2370w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">Speaking about how important AI is to advancing research. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"790\" height=\"578\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-94734\" data-id=\"94734\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-6-of-6.jpg?resize=790%2C578\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-6-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C749 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-6-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=355%2C260 355w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-6-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=150%2C110 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-6-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C562 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-6-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1124 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-6-of-6-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1499 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-6-of-6-scaled.jpg?w=2370 2370w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">Explaining how AI helps with prediction and classification. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-prev swiper-button-prev swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"><\/a><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-next swiper-button-next swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"><\/a><a aria-label=\"Pause Slideshow\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-pause\" role=\"button\"><\/a><div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_pagination swiper-pagination swiper-pagination-white\"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>One of his central points was the massive growth of data in modern society, enabling AI to analyze it. Hourani said we are in the era of data explosion, citing the volume of social media posts, online searches, and online purchases that take place every day.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEverything is stored somewhere. The question is: why do they record this data? Because there is value in this data, but the data alone is useless unless we extract the hidden insights from it,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is where AI comes in to help us find those insights and extract knowledge from large amounts of information.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hourani explained that artificial intelligence enables computers to analyze information in ways the human mind cannot, given the sheer scale of modern datasets, describing AI as a tool that helps computers learn from data through structured processes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAI, in a simple way, is how to teach the computer to think,\u201d he said. \u201cBy writing algorithms, we\u2019re telling the computer how to interact with the data, how to analyze it, and how to extract useful knowledge from it. As humans, we cannot review millions of records at once, but AI can process this data quickly and help researchers find patterns, make predictions, and classify information.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said this allows researchers to move beyond basic analysis and begin predicting outcomes, classifying information, and discovering patterns, and that AI has been implemented across a wide range of research areas, including healthcare and agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe feed the model with data, such as medical images, and the model can predict whether the patient is normal or has a disease,\u201d Hourani said. \u201cFor example, it can analyze brain images or medical scans and help researchers detect conditions like cognitive impairment or other diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hourani also said that in agriculture, AI can predict a crop&#8217;s health by identifying its type, determining whether it\u2019s healthy, and even predicting which disease it may have.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis helps researchers, scientists and professionals make better decisions based on the data,\u201d he said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hourani also noted that AI systems can achieve high accuracy when trained with sufficient data.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe performance depends on the data and how much data you have,\u201d he said. \u201cThe more data you have, the cleaner and more structured the data is, the better performance you will get. With enough high-quality data, AI models can achieve very high accuracy. In some projects, especially with image data, we can reach accuracy levels as high as 99 percent, which makes AI a very powerful tool for research and analysis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As AI evolves, Hourani emphasized that it is fundamentally changing how researchers approach questions and analyze information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNow, when we work with data, we can ask new types of questions,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can ask if there is something we want to predict or classify in our data. We can ask if we need to group data into clusters, detect abnormal behavior, or generate rules to understand patterns. AI allows researchers to answer these questions and extract knowledge in ways that were not possible before. This is why AI has become such an important tool across many research disciplines.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More information about the upcoming Science Cafes can be found at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fhsu.edu\/smei\/science-cafe\/\">https:\/\/www.fhsu.edu\/smei\/science-cafe\/<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FHSUScienceCafe\">FHSU Science Cafe <\/a>Facebook page.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By RORY MOORE Tiger Media Network Fort Hays State University\u2019s Science and Mathematics Education Institute hosted the AI for Advancing Research Across Diverse Disciplines Science&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":94731,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3397,3398,11],"tags":[15248,15096,15700,276],"class_list":["post-94728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-area-news","category-campus-news","category-news","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-rory-moore","tag-science-cafe"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ScienceCafe-3-of-6-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1960","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=94728"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94738,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94728\/revisions\/94738"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/94731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=94728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=94728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=94728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}