Jerid Francom

Jerid Francom is an Associate Professor of Spanish and a corpus linguist at Wake Forest University, specializing in the intersection of human language and computational text analysis. He deconstructs the architecture of large language models, explaining that AI outputs are sophisticated statistical illusions of grammar rather than evidence of true consciousness or comprehension. Francom strongly advocates for open-source, localized small language models, prioritizing data privacy and academic agency over reliance on massive corporate AI systems. By leading collaborative pilots like an AI triage tool for the Writing Center, he champions hands-on digital literacy to empower educators to build their own purpose-driven technology.