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An aspiring lawyer, Gayatri “Gaya” Rajamony ’25 is researching a hot topic for her senior thesis, one that corresponds well with her post-graduation pursuits: the legal and ethical ramifications of art generated by artificial intelligence (AI). But what makes Rajamony’s project unique is that she is studying it as someone who deeply understands how that art is generated in the first place. A computer science major and political science minor, Rajamony spent last summer researching the technology behind AI-generated art through a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF); it was only natural to expand her work into law and ethics.

“I've always been interested in the intersection between computer science and law—it's part of why I decided to come to a liberal arts college—so picking [my senior thesis] topic was fairly simple for me,” Rajamony says.

An Austin native, Rajamony is also combining these interests in her extracurriculars. She is a member of the �԰����� Women in Computing organization and �԰����� Mock Trial, a facilitator for the Student Integrity Panel, and an undergraduate researcher in the AI lab of communication professor Althea Delwiche, Ph.D. The lab is examining the media coverage of AI.

We talked with Rajamony about her senior thesis.

You did a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) about artificial intelligence, and it’s now the basis of your senior thesis. Tell us more! 

I worked with [Caruth Distinguished Professor of Computer Science] Dr. Paul Myers last summer researching the technology that powers AI art generators and how that technology intersects with the ethical and legal issues surrounding AI art. My summer project was very exploratory, which only made me more interested in the topic. After thinking about it for a bit, Dr. Myers and I decided it would be a good idea to turn it into my honors thesis. Right now, I'm in thesis reading, which is pretty explanatory. I'm anticipating my final paper will be exploratory, as well, but I want to focus more on the effects of generated art and biases within training sets.

Why are you interested in this topic?

First, I'm aiming to go to law school, so it never hurts to get invested in the legal implications of new technology. I've always been interested in the intersection between computer science and law—it's part of why I decided to come to a liberal arts college—so picking the topic was fairly simple for me. Second, it's kind of hard to miss mentions of AI art on the internet nowadays. Or AI in general. When I was prepping for my SURF project, I thought the legality of AI art was a relevant topic.

You're majoring in computer science and minoring in political science. Why were you drawn to the intersection of those two areas?

I've always been interested in a career in the legal field. I actually came to �԰����� as a math major, intending to graduate and go to law school. The second part of my plan stayed intact, but after taking a few computer science courses, I realized I enjoyed that field as well. I've always been well-versed in computer science; I took classes in high school and spent at least three summer camps coding (inside, thank God). After coming to �԰�����, I realized I could be interested in both and, even better, have a career that involved both.

How do you see your research working with your areas of interest in computer science and political science?

I think it's very relevant in the computer science and political science fields. I'm specifically examining the impact of AI art on copyright law with the knowledge of how AI art generation actually works. One thing I realized when doing my research this past semester and over the summer is how complicated, abstract, and, honestly, unintuitive the process really is. It doesn't seem like a lot of the people working on creating policy or in the legal field are fully versed in the technology, which might be dangerous in the long run.

And finally, why did you choose to attend �԰�����?

I first heard about �԰����� from an older friend of mine who'd applied. I was looking for a smaller liberal arts school, and she had been, too, so I used her application list as a jumping-off point. I started looking at colleges early, at least the ones in Texas. When I was a sophomore, I was lucky enough to go on a tour here. I say lucky, because �԰����� was one of the few schools I actually got to see in person because of COVID. I remember being surprised by how many trees there were, especially by the residence halls. I liked how green it was and how proud my tour guide sounded when she talked about �԰�����. Weeks later, I got a postcard from her, thanking me for coming to visit. My family and I spent probably around an hour trying to figure out if it was handwritten or just a really convincing font. Spoiler: it was definitely handwritten. Out of the few schools I toured, �԰����� seemed like the best fit for me. Honestly, even before I received my �԰����� Tower scholarship (which made my decision very easy, to be fair), I thought �԰����� was a place I could thrive.