L-R: Alán Aspuru-Guzik and Sheila McIlraith (photos: Guzik by Aaron Wynia; McIlraith supplied)
Alán Aspuru-Guzik and Sheila McIlraith named AI2050 Senior Fellows
Published: November 7, 2025
Renowned artificial intelligence researchers and U of T faculty members Alán Aspuru-Guzik and Sheila McIlraith have been named 2025 AI2050 Senior Fellows by Schmidt Sciences.
The AI2050 program supports researchers whose projects use AI to generate significant benefits for humanity by 2050.
Aspuru-Guzik, a professor of chemistry and computer science in the Faculty of Arts & Science, conducts research in the interfaces of quantum information, machine learning and chemistry. He also leads U of T’s Acceleration Consortium, an institutional strategic initiative that gathers researchers from industry, government and academia to envision and create the labs of the future.
His AI2050 project involves developing an “AI chemist" designed to work alongside human chemists to accelerate scientific discoveries in chemistry.
McIlraith, a professor of computer science and associate director and research lead at the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society, carries out research focused AI sequential decision making through the lens of human-compatible AI.
In her AI2050 project, McIlraith aims to endow AI with purposeful theory of mind capabilities – the ability to not only better understand the beliefs, desires and intentions of others, but also to be incentivized to make decisions and to act in consideration of the welfare and agency of others.
“The AI2050 fellows are ambitious yet collaborative researchers who focus on AI innovation and the opportunities and challenges in our AI2050 motivating question,” said James Manyika, co-chair of AI2050 and a senior vice-president at Google. “This technology can and will bring about an epochal shift in our society – and the AI2050 fellows are shaping that change so it is a benefit for all people.”
