THE LLM LAB grew out of a class I taught during a moment of uncertainty. I am a literature professor with a long-standing investment in digital culture, but the speed of AI development, the inflated confidence of its leaders, and the noise of the public conversation left me confused and, at times, overwhelmed. Teaching the course gave me a way to think through that uncertainty. What I did not expect was how much I would learn from my students.

Undergraduates use digital technology with a certain kind of flair. They move across platforms and tools without hesitation. They are also not pulled by the same disciplinary habits that inform the work of faculty. Many of them move across fields. A neuroscience student might be taking Art classes. A political science student might be in calculus. On paper this looks like simple requirement-filling, but it actually creates a beautifully interdisciplinary experience for students that gives them a wide range of instincts and reasoning capacities. They notice things that someone like me, trained in a single field for decades might pass by. They have taught me a great deal.

THE LLM LAB exists because undergraduate thinking brings something distinct to the conversation about AI. Students approach the technology with curiosity and skepticism, but they are also willing to experiment. They are learning in a moment defined by tools that will follow them into their adult lives. They see the stakes clearly. They ask questions that come from living near the technology rather than watching it from a distance. I created this space to share that perspective and to give their research a home where it can matter to others.