Free AI events in Chicago

You don't have to spend a dollar to plug into Chicago's AI scene. Every free AI event in the city, gathered in one place and verified daily: meetups, workshops, hackathons, and talks with no ticket price.

Meetups Workshops Hackathons Conferences Networking

Oct

Tue

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM CDT

Schmidt AI in Science Speaker Series: Meng Jiang (Notre Dame)

John Crerar Library, University of Chicagoby University of Chicago Data Science Institute

A free public talk at the University of Chicago's John Crerar Library from Notre Dame computer scientist Meng Jiang, part of the weekly Schmidt AI in Science series on AI-driven work across the physical and biological sciences.

MeetupFreeAdvancedResearchersStudents

Oct

Tue

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM CDT

Schmidt AI in Science Speaker Series: Doug Brinkerhoff (University of Montana)

John Crerar Library, University of Chicagoby University of Chicago Data Science Institute

A free talk at UChicago on why a machine learning glacier flow emulator ended up back as a PDE solver, covering GPU-accelerated multigrid methods and ML-inspired transport operators in scientific computing.

MeetupFreeAdvancedResearchersStudents

Oct

Mon

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM CDT

The UChicago and Caltech Conference on AI+Science 2026

David Rubenstein Forum, University of Chicagoby University of Chicago Data Science Institute

A three-day research conference at UChicago's David Rubenstein Forum gathering leading core AI and domain science researchers, jointly run with Caltech and sponsored by the Margot and Tom Pritzker Foundation.

ConferenceFreeAdvancedResearchersStudents

Oct

Tue

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM CDT

Schmidt AI in Science Speaker Series: Ella King (Northwestern)

John Crerar Library, University of Chicagoby University of Chicago Data Science Institute

A free UChicago talk from Northwestern engineer Ella King, whose work applies AI methods to designing dynamic, self-correcting materials, part of the weekly Schmidt AI in Science series.

MeetupFreeAdvancedResearchersStudents

Nov

Tue

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM CST

Schmidt AI in Science Speaker Series: Greg Bryan (Columbia)

David Rubenstein Forum, University of Chicagoby University of Chicago Data Science Institute

A free University of Chicago research talk by Columbia astronomer Greg Bryan, part of the Schmidt AI in Science series on AI-driven advances across the physical and biological sciences.

MeetupFreeAdvancedResearchersStudents