ASU students use AI and innovative data modeling to break down complex issues

By Nikolas Kittilson

In a new class at Arizona State University titled CGF 394: Decision Making for the Future of Arizona, offered by the Rob Walton College of Global Futures, students are learning to use AI, data management and analysis to tackle some of Arizona’s most complex problems.

Using state-of-the-art facilities at the ASU Decision Theater, a unit of the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, students met with experts and local leaders to understand the challenges they would address within the class and then used publicly available data to test the potential effects of their proposed solutions.

“I enjoyed making the connections between qualitative and quantitative data,” said Iryna Falendysh, a student in the class who is studying international relations and French. “Having two guides in class to help us connect all these random numbers into a real-life narrative made it a really eye-opening experience.”

The students’ ideas were augmented by new and powerful AI tools.

“Innovation, I feel, is one of the top priorities of Decision Theater and the environment really helped,” said philosophy student Sebastian Matta.

Students in the course created a final simulation of their findings using the Decision Theater’s drum to present their dashboards and solutions to local experts. The work was designed to give students hands-on experience with data science, modeling, vibe coding, complex systems thinking and problem-solving. The students came from different backgrounds and majors at ASU, allowing them to bring together their knowledge in the fields of education, health care, economic and social development, workforce development and sustainability toward the solution-making process.

During the class, students heard from experts in various fields and current or former politicians from Arizona.

“The connections I made with my classmates are ones that I think will really pay off,” Matta said. “And the teacher really made sure they were able to devote more attention to us individually as well as a group."

The skills and knowledge gained in this class included data science and modeling, human-centered design, use of agentic AI, sustainability practices and complexity science methods. But the class also gave each student an opportunity to grow and learn skills that will help them in their everyday lives, no matter the profession.

“This class's content, I feel, will be changing and evolving every year due to AI and different topics,” Falendysh said. “I think innovation is a pretty big thing with this class, and embracing the future and technology is embraced.”

The class, which fulfills the Quantitative Reasoning category for ASU’s General Studies Gold requirement, is taught by Manfred Laubichler, president’s professor and director of the School of Complex Adaptive Systems, and Dina Ziganshina Lienhard, assistant director of research for the School of Complex Adaptive Systems. It will be offered again in spring 2027.