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The Blade's Tom Henry covered opening day of Great Lakes AI Week at Bowling Green State University on November 10, 2026.
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Highlights from the story
- 915 people came to day one at BGSU's Bowen-Thompson Student Union. The week continued at One Seagate in downtown Toledo on Wednesday and at the University of Toledo on Thursday.
- Speakers urged the region to look past the hype, put guardrails in place and remember that people stay in charge of, and accountable for, how AI is used.
- Steve Taplin, founder and CEO of Sonatafy Technology, gave one of the day's most memorable talks on why AI still needs a human in the loop to check its work.
- Summer Crenshaw, co-founder and CEO of ETA, opened the week by calling northwest Ohio a breeding ground for new technology and innovation.
- Zack Huhn, ETA Chief SuperIntelligence Officer, shared AI Ready Ohio's progress: 2,143 Ohioans AI-certified as of Tuesday morning, on the way to a 2026 goal of 3,000.
- Tushar Kulkarni, founder and CEO of Big Kitty Labs, challenged leaders to put real resources behind responsible AI.
- BGSU President Rodney Rogers, BGSU Provost Ravi Krovi and Nate Sowder of High Contrast Labs also spoke.
Great Lakes AI Week is produced by the Enterprise Technology Association with JobsOhio.
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