Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the ways people learn, work, communicate, and solve problems. But how does AI actually work, and what does it mean to use it effectively and responsibly? These questions were at the center of the first installment of this year’s Smith Scholar series, which welcomed Dr. Jakov Kucan, chief technology officer at Manifold AI, to campus for an introduction to the technology shaping an increasingly complex world.

Dr. Kucan’s introduction to AI on October 6 served as a crucial foundation for the remaining three lectures on the topic. He provided context and a historical overview of where AI came from and how its early origins influence the iterations we use today, covering early efforts to teach computers to follow logical rules to the development of machine learning, neural networks, and today’s large language models. He explained how advances in computing power, algorithms, and data have converged to produce the sophisticated systems that now recognize images, generate text, and assist with complex tasks.

Through demonstrations and examples displayed in the Smith Theater, Dr. Kucan illustrated the central principle of machine learning: AI systems make predictions based on patterns in the data on which they are trained. He compared the process to adjusting the parameters of a mathematical model, repeatedly refining its predictions to better match observed information. Large language models apply related principles to language, predicting what word or sequence of words is most likely to come next based on patterns learned from vast amounts of text. So, can AI understand us? Simply put, no, it cannot, but it is very good at guessing what one might want an answer to be based on a wealth of data and previous engagements with similar questions. This is also why users should challenge and correct responses, rather than taking the information as absolute fact.

During the question-and-answer session, students raised questions about AI regulation, its potential impact on the job market, and what the future of AI might look like. Dr. Kucan acknowledged the uncertainty surrounding AI’s long-term effects, particularly on entry-level employment, while noting that technological change has historically both displaced certain kinds of work and created new opportunities. Many large technological advances in history have drastically changed society, such as the invention of the car or cellphone. AI, though daunting, is no different. Throughout the discussion, Dr. Kucan emphasized that understanding AI requires looking beyond its impressive outputs to consider how it works and how people choose to use it. While AI becomes more deeply integrated into daily life, the ability to evaluate its responses, recognize its limitations, and maintain human judgment will become increasingly important.

Twenty years ago, the late Robert Smith—RL Class of 1958—and his wife, Salua, established the Robert P. Smith International Fellowship so Roxbury Latin could bring visiting scholars to campus each year, enhancing our curricula with their insightful perspectives on our increasingly complex world. Over the years, these scholars have educated us on such topics as economic globalization in Africa; modernization in China, India, and the Middle East; Latin American literature; the legacy of World War I; climate change and its far-reaching effects; borders, both physical and philosophical; the nuances of race and gender; the history of the civil rights movement in America; and the power and confluence of spoken word poetry and activism. Roxbury Latin is ever grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Smith for their generosity and for enabling the community’s greater understanding of so many important issues.

“Regardless of one’s personal connection to the attacks of that day, all of us continue to be affected by their legacy,” Head of School Sam Schaffer told students on September 15, four days after the nation marked the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001. Roxbury Latin welcomed back to Hall Juliette Kayyem, one of the country’s foremost experts on homeland security and terrorism, to help the school reflect on that legacy. It was Ms. Kayyem’s third visit to RL, having previously addressed the school on the fifth and 20th anniversaries of the attacks. 

Ms. Kayyem opened by situating students in a moment many of them never experienced: an America that, in 2001, believed it had just won the Cold War, and whose vision of a democratic, free-market world seemed to have been finally achieved. September 11 shattered that confidence, she said, and marked the first time NATO’s Article 5—under which an attack on one member is treated as an attack on all—was ever invoked. In the aftermath of the attacks, 92 percent of Arabs in the Middle East supported the American response in Afghanistan. “That unity is long gone,” she told students, a casualty of two long wars and widening economic gaps, disruptions from migration, and the strain of new technologies worldwide. 

Ms. Kayyem also traced how terrorism threats have changed. Today’s greater danger, she argued, is often homegrown, fast-moving, loosely organized, and radicalized online rather than planned for years by a foreign group. Ms. Kayyem no longer calls herself a counterterrorism expert but an “all hazards” one, since her focus now includes climate disasters, cybersecurity, public health, and AI. On AI, in particular, she explained that tech leaders warn of existential risk while asking the public to simply trust them to handle it. “We still have the agency to control even this capacity,” she said, “and more importantly to control the CEOs and companies responsible.”

In a wide-ranging Q&A session, Ms. Kayyem also addressed climate change, the growth of private surveillance tools, stochastic terrorism, and how radicalization turns violent. She closed by urging students not to wait for the unity of the post-9/11 moment to return, but to see themselves as capable of asserting their own agency over the technological and global disruptions still to come.

Ms. Kayyem is the Belfer Senior Lecturer in International Security at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and has been a national leader in homeland security for nearly 30 years. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, she served as President Obama’s Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, and was the first Arab American to serve as a state head of Homeland Security and the highest-ranking Arab American woman in the Obama administration. She previously served as Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s Homeland Security Advisor, sat on the National Commission on Terrorism, and worked as a trial attorney in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. She is currently a senior CNN analyst, a contributing writer for The Atlantic, and hosts a weekly security segment on WGBH.

Roxbury Latin students and faculty gathered in Rousmaniere Hall on Wednesday to celebrate a distinctly RL tradition: Exelauno Day. The tradition dates back over 130 years, when Classics master Clarence Willard Gleason inaugurated a celebration of the Classics, in which Greek students would be exempted from homework for the day. Today, the event allows for the singular annual pleasure of hearing from declaimers of every age and level of exposure to Latin and Greek. Gleason chose March 4th as a punny reference to Xenophon’s Anabasis and its use of the verb “exelauno,” meaning “to march forth.”

During the morning’s special Hall, boys in Class VI through Class I competed in this year’s David Taggart Clark Competition in Greek and Latin Declamation—reciting ancient words from classic texts that brought to life scenes such as “Epops summons his fellow avians,” “Cicero accuses Marc Antony,” and “Icarus flies too close to the sun.” Classics Department Chair and Exelauno Hall emcee, Mrs. Morris-Kliment, welcomed Jay Kardan, Professor Emeritus of Randolph College, to the lectern to announce the results. This year’s winners were Ky Lima of Class V (Lower School Latin), Andrew Kramer of Class IV (Intermediate Latin), Marco Suri of Class I (Upper School Latin), and Aspen Johnson of Class I (Greek).

RL extends its heartfelt gratitude to this year’s Exelauno Day judges, the aforementioned Jay Kardan; Andrew Chappell, Head of School of The Derryfield School; and Erin Russo, Latin Teacher at Newton Country Day School.

View a video of the morning’s Exelauno Day Hall in its entirety. You can also view a complete gallery of photos taken in the morning by Evan Scales. Congratulations to all of the day’s declaimers for impressive performances across the board.

“We love to tell young people that they stand on the shoulders of giants,” began Dr. Yohuru Williams in Hall on January 20. “Gentlemen, that’s a lie. You do not stand on the shoulders of giants. You are the giants.” Dr. Williams delivered this year’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Address, as we honored the life, work, and legacy of Dr. King.

Before Dr. Williams took to the lectern, Colin Bradley (I) read “I Dream a World,” a poem by Langston Hughes. Following that, Brayden Gillespie (I) read an excerpt from Martin Luther King’s 1964 Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech.

Dr. Williams spoke about the immense power in the hands of young people gathered in community, like those at Roxbury Latin. This power, though, can be misused if not approached responsibly. “You must learn to wield the incredible force and power that you have in a way that perpetuates our shared humanity,” he stated. “It must be utilized in a way that is anchored in human compassion, and that begins with the idea that the brotherhood of mankind is what we should all be prioritizing.”

Throughout his address, Dr. Williams spoke about the importance of our shared humanity and the need to step out of one’s comfort zone and make intentional choices for the greater good. “Men who live only for themselves—accumulating knowledge, power, and advantage without regard for others—they do not become more fully human. They become less so.” 

“Dr. King will tell you that the revolution will not wait for you to wake up. So let me be clear about what this moment asks of you, asks of me, asks of all of us: It does not ask you to have all the answers. It does not ask you to be perfect. But it does ask you to stay awake, stay engaged.”

Dr. Williams’s influence and impact were felt throughout the day, with many faculty, staff, and students marveling at how engaging and important his speech was, and at how resonant his message of being engaged feels right now.

“I want to have an open and honest conversation with you, about a topic that we in the adult world have launched on you, but haven’t quite figured out how to talk about yet,” began Harry Levant in Hall on January 13. Dr. Levant is the Director of Gambling Policy with the Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) at Northeastern University and is an Internationally Certified Gambling Counselor, mental health therapist, and Doctor of Law and Policy. He is also a former gambling addict.

During his talk, Dr. Levant discussed the prevalence of the sports betting industry, which has become not only normalized but also romanticized, due to companies like DraftKings and FanDuel. He distinguished this type of betting from the standard casino or in-person gambling that existed when he was younger. “I am in favor of the properly regulated legalization of sports gambling. I’m for it,” he said, acknowledging it as a cultural pastime that goes back centuries. “However, what we have launched is not properly regulated and is not safe. In fact, it’s an entirely new kind of gambling.” He then demonstrated that access to gambling today is as simple as downloading an app onto your phone.

Before opening the room up to questions, Dr. Levant touched on several noteworthy dangers or tricks hidden in sports betting platforms, such as new offers that are too good to be true. For example, he showed the audience an ad that said a $5 bet would earn the user $300. However, while some might think this is actual money, it is actually just in-game credits that fuel the game’s chase. He also explained how games on your phone with in-store credits are structured to prime users to get accustomed to unlocking rewards and bonuses through progress and playtime.

After the Hall, Dr. Levant spent time with Class V in their Health and Wellness class, discussing some of the parallels between online sports betting and the video games kids begin playing at a young age. He also met with advanced math students in Class I and II, where the boys asked more questions, about prediction markets, game theory applications in sports betting, and about what would make this type of gambling safer. The evening before he spoke with boys in Hall, he also gave a presentation to the Parents’ Auxiliary.

As the Director of Gambling Policy at PHAI, Dr. Levant works to bring about much-needed change in how gambling is regulated and promoted. His department believes that the current state of the industry, with its easy accessibility and aggressive advertising, poses a looming public health crisis, akin to that of cigarettes decades ago. Mr. Levant holds a Doctorate of Law and Public Policy from Northeastern University, and a Master’s in Professional Clinical Counseling from La Salle University. He has testified before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee about the potential public health crisis caused by sports betting, and his work has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, 60 Minutes, and CNN.

“It’s part of my mission to convince you that all of us are mathematical people, by virtue of being human people, and if we could see the human parts of mathematics, we might have a different relationship with it,” began Dr. Francis Su during Hall in the Smith Theater on December 9. Francis Su is the Benediktsson-Karwa Professor of Mathematics at Harvey Mudd College, and a former president of the Mathematical Association of America. His research is in topological and geometric combinatorics and applications to the sciences, including game theory, voting theory, and the mathematics of fair decisions.

During his talk, Dr. Su encouraged the RL community to seek and value the wonder in math and education, rather than viewing them as transactional, or as a means to get ahead or enter an impressive career. “Think about education as something that forms you—it changes you, it builds your character. It changes your attitudes toward things, and it gives you certain habits of mind, certain dispositions that shape the way you move in the world.”

At the beginning of his talk, Dr. Su performed a card trick during which he perfectly and continuously selected pairs of one red and one black card from a shuffled deck, which he later explained was just a mathematical pattern. From this point forward, both students and faculty were deeply engaged and intrigued, some perhaps seeing math in a new light, as something that can be fun and enlightening. “You are all learning how to look at the world differently through your education,” he said. “You are starting to see things more closely, more deeply, whether that’s a deck of cards and a card trick, whether that’s trying to figure out if someone’s trying to dupe you or take advantage of you, whether that’s being able to look at the beauty of the world and see something wonderful about it. These things make your life richer.”

Dr. Su has a passion for teaching and popularizing mathematics through writing and public engagement. His work has been featured in Quanta Magazine, Wired, and The New York Times. He authors the popular Math Fun Facts website, and three of his articles have been featured in Princeton Press’s Best Writing on Mathematics. From the Mathematical Association of America, he received the 2018 Halmos-Ford award for mathematical writing and the 2013 Haimo Award for distinguished teaching of college-level mathematics. Dr. Su earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Texas at Austin and his doctorate from Harvard University. 

The Founder’s Song rang out through Rousmaniere Hall on November 6, as the entire school joined together to celebrate the founding of Roxbury Latin on this year’s Founder’s Day. After several opening prayers in Hebrew, English, Greek, and Latin, led by selected Class I boys, Dr. Schaffer welcomed the community, providing historical context on the founding of the school and introducing the topic of this year’s Founder’s Day: the history of fire in Boston and the critical service of first responders.

“We celebrate Founder’s Day in November because we know for certain, based on ships’ records, that John Eliot landed in Boston on November 2, 1631,” Dr. Schaffer stated. “We do not know the exact date of the founding of the school, because its earliest records were destroyed by fire caused by a gunpowder explosion in spring 1645.” 

This year, Stephanie Schorow, author and professor of journalism at Boston University, spoke in Hall about Boston’s long history of firefighting and some of the city’s most catastrophic fires. These included the Great Boston Fire of 1872 and the Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire, which occurred on November 28, 1942, killing nearly 500 people and injuring over 100 more. Though devastating, this fire led to the widespread adoption of life-saving inventions, such as penicillin and lit exit doors, and changed safety and medical practices for first responders forever. 

“That night, doctors and nurses at Boston hospitals worked frantically to save the lives of the hundreds of injured. Doctors tested new burn treatments that proved effective in saving lives. Penicillin, the antibiotic that would transform medicine, was used for the first time on a civilian population, on victims of the Cocoanut Grove Fire. Psychologists would also treat the people who were injured not just in the body, but in the mind, first studies of what we know as post-traumatic stress,” Professor Schorow stated. 

After Hall, the boys, faculty, and staff gathered for the annual all-school photo on the Senior Grass before heading to the Smith Theater for the second half of the day’s events. First, Mrs. Berg hosted a panel of first responders in our parent community, including Beth Rimas P’19 ’26 (Boston EMT), Chris Holt P’29 (Boston PD), and Steve Nelson P’31 (Brookline FD). The panelists shared insights into their careers and the paths that led them to this line of work, as well as personal anecdotes and stories from the job. The boys then had the opportunity to ask their own insightful questions. 

After lunch, Juanita Allen Kingsley—an EMT for over 20 years and parent of two RL alumni—led the school in an informative overview of recognizing and addressing medical emergencies, including cardiac events, anaphylactic shock, and life-threatening wounds. 

Before the completion of another successful Founder’s Day, the school participated in the traditional Founder’s Day Kahoot! trivia challenge. Once again, Mr. Piper emceed this moment when the boys could show off their trivia knowledge and competitive spirit. After two close rounds, Temi Martins Dosumu (II) was crowned—or, rather, plastic fire helmeted—victor.

View photos from the students’ Founder’s Day adventures.