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University of Florida

UF AI consultant published in Microsoft's AI Economy Institute's first book


  • UF AI consultant Daniel Maxwell, PhD, was published in the Microsoft AI Economy Institute's first book, "Degrees of Change: What AI Means for Education and the Next Generation."
  • Maxwell's chapter focuses on how AI is reshaping education and white-collar work, and why creativity will be the defining skill in an AI-infused world.
  • As an AI consultant to UF's arts and humanities faculty, Maxwell teaches AI skills and data science and helps faculty access UF's high-performance computing resources such as HiPerGator.

In a collaboration across 16 universities, including the University of Florida where artificial intelligence is embedded across disciplines, the Microsoft AI Economy Institute published its first book, "Degrees of Change: What AI Means for Education and the Next Generation." 

The book explores practical insights on the future of education and workforce readiness as the rapid emergence of AI transforms the global economy. One of the publication’s 14 authors is a UF AI consultant, Daniel Maxwell, PhD.  

In March, Maxwell was selected to be a senior fellow of Microsoft’s AI Economy Institute inaugural cohort. AIEI connects leaders in education, technology and industry to explore how AI is transforming the workplace as well as economic productivity, and share their findings with policymakers, educators and leaders worldwide.

Maxwell authored chapter 5, “Is It You? The Importance of Figuring Out What It Means to Be Human in the Age of AI.” 

“The chapter considers how humans might flourish in the age of AI,” Maxwell said. 

Maxwell examines how AI is reshaping education and white-collar work — not primarily through job loss but through how everyday tasks are changing. He argues that creativity will be the defining skill in a world infused with AI and presents six key propositions regarding the nature of creative thought from a humanist’s perspective. Education is therefore key, and it now sits at the center of deciding what humans should remain responsible for in an AI-driven economy.  

“AI is not asking us to compete with machines,” Maxwell said. “It’s forcing us to decide where human responsibility truly belongs.”   

The book launches this week at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, and will be available in stores and online beginning Jan. 21. 

Maxwell is a liaison to UF’s arts and humanities faculty for UF Information Technology Research Computing. In his role, he teaches faculty AI skills and data science and provides consultations for faculty seeking UF’s high-performance computing resources.  

At the center of UF’s high-performance computing environment is HiPerGator – UF's supercomputer. HiPerGator is the fastest supercomputer in US higher education and was recently announced as the 10th fastest university-owned AI supercomputer in the world.