AI@AU initiative spearheads fall series of expert-led artificial intelligence forums
Published: Sep 8, 2023 12:25 PM
By Joe McAdory
How does today’s evolving workforce adapt with the evolution of artificial intelligence? What is the risk/reward that comes with automated facial recognition? What impact will AI have on medicine?
These questions, and others, will be answered by subject matter experts in a series of forums – presented by Auburn University’s AI@AU initiative.
“AI is a multifaceted field, encompassing technologies for seeing and reading/writing, listening and understanding, and planning and reasoning,” said Hari Narayanan, computer science and software engineering department chair and AI@AU administrative lead. “Those who attend this series will hear from AI experts at Auburn and other leading universities about the state-of-the-art in AI, and societal consequences of its widespread application on trust, truth, ethics, literacy, and citizenship.”
“This series draws speakers from both inside and outside of Auburn University, thus, it makes the landscape of AI research and education across the university visible to our campus community of scholars and educators and brings visibility to our strengths and efforts in this area to the outside world.”
The AI@AU initiative was established in 2022 to: 1) Create a university-wide faculty group for coordinating and supporting AI-related educational and research activities; 2) Install AI computational resources to support AI-related education and research; 3) Create a university-wide distinguished lecture series, featuring prominent researchers in AI; 4) Create new educational programs on AI in the disciplines for Auburn students – preparing them for the workplace; 5) Develop a faculty-led AI think tank that eventually becomes a focal point for connecting with external opportunities and generating extramural funding for research and education.
The initiative is even sponsoring an AI-related film festival, open to the public on select Tuesdays this fall, featuring tech-related movies “iRobot,” “TRON,” and “2001: A Space Odyssey."
“AI is rapidly changing the lives of everyone – for the better,” said Gerry Dozier, Charles D. McCrary Eminent Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering and AI@AU technical lead. “Auburn University is all about making life better for its students, staff, faculty, the great State of Alabama, our region, our nation, and our world. Seriously moving forward with AI so quickly is just a natural extension of what Auburn University has always been doing."
Santu Karmaker, assistant professor in computer science and software engineering, kicked the series off on Friday, September 8, with his presentation, “Democratizing AI with Information Assurance and Knowledge Grounding."
“Being a part of the AI@AU initiative is very exciting and rewarding for professors working on/interested in the field of AI,” he said. “Also, being part of the AI initiative can be exhilarating for those who are passionate about technology and its potential to shape the future.
“Attending the AI@AU forums will offer knowledge-sharing, networking, and career opportunities. It will provide insights into AI developments, ethics, and societal impacts. Forums connect professionals, researchers, and enthusiasts, fostering collaborations, showcasing projects, and keeping participants informed about the rapidly evolving field.”
Karmaker recently earned two grants for AI research totaling nearly $1.25 million in awards. His study, “An Intelligent Assistant to Support Teachers and Students in Simulation-Based Science Learning,” was awarded by the National Science Foundation, while “A Novel Human-AI Collaborative Framework for Multi-Perspective Narrative Analytics and Braiding at Scale,” is funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
Future series presentations – all in Shelby Center room 3129 – will be:
Shomir Wilson, assistant professor in information sciences and technology at Penn State (September 22): “Natural Language Processing for Privacy, Empowerment and Social Good.”
Michael C. King, associate professor in computer engineering and sciences at Florida Tech University (October 6): “Deep Convolutional Neural Network Enabled Automated Face Recognition and its Unforeseen Consequences.”
Zongliang Yue, assistant research professor in the Health Outcomes Research and Policy Department within Auburn University’s Harrison College of Pharmacy (October 20): “Network Medicine in the Age of AI.”
Mohit Bansal, professor in computer science at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (October 27): “Multimodal LLMs: Unification, Efficiency, Interpretability.”
Leslie A. Cordie, associate professor in the Educational Foundations, Leadership and Technology Department at Auburn University (November 17): “Digital Literacy and Citizenship: AI Practices for the 21st Century Workforce.”
Leyla Isik, assistant professor of cognitive science at Johns Hopkins University (December 1): “The Neural Computations Underlying Human Social Interaction Recognition.”
Presentations can also be viewed here on Zoom.
Media Contact: , jem0040@auburn.edu, 334.844.3447
Santu Karmaker, assistant professor in computer science and software engineering, delivered the series' first presentation on Friday, September 8.
