Using AI for Social Good

Most people use artificial intelligence for things like online searching and shopping, chatbots, navigation, image generation, and more. LMU senior Gavin Butts ’25 wants to use AI for social good.

A statistics & data science and computer science double major, who’s also minoring in math, Butts’ interest in research was first sparked by a project with LMU Seaver College Prof. Junyuan Lin. The project, which focused on the women’s soccer team, explored the impact of various factors on athlete training, competition readiness, and performance. Their research was not only part of LMU’s Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP), but it was also presented in Tokyo, Japan, and it won best poster at the Southern California Conference of Applied Math (SOCAMS). For Butts, the experience also highlighted the intersection of social justice and his studies, inspiring him to pursue research as a career.

“This was my first chance to ever incorporate both social justice initiatives with what I’m studying, and I think getting that experience first hand – like, this is something I can do, and this is something I could live doing – that’s not something I ever considered, and that’s just something I’d love to explore further,” Butts said.

Outside of the classroom, Butts, who also serves as the Vice President for Service with LMU’s Ignatians Service Organization, credits his involvement with the group and its focus on social reform, abolition initiatives, and working with disadvantaged communities, for further igniting his passion for social justice.

Butts hopes to one day use what he’s learned inside the classroom with statistics, data science, and computer science to explore AI ethics and research other social justice causes, including how AI can be used for prison reform.

“I think it would be really interesting to be able to explore how AI can help these people, and instead of using AI to put people in the system… how can we use AI to help rehabilitate people?”