That changed when he became fascinated with an emerging field that drew few students at the time: artificial intelligence (AI). Natarajan, a professor of computer science at The University of Texas at Dallas, is now an expert in AI and recently was named a fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI). The AAAI Fellows program recognizes individuals across the globe who have made significant, sustained contributions to the field of AI. “It is important to understand who is in control of the process — such as AI that gives movie recommendations or humans in high-risk domains including health care,” Natarajan said. “In medicine, AI is in the loop in the sense that AI doesn’t make the decision.