MIT Generative AI Week fosters dialogue throughout disciplines | MIT Information



In late November, college, employees, and college students from throughout MIT participated in MIT Generative AI Week. The programming included a flagship full-day symposium in addition to 4 subject-specific symposia, all aimed toward fostering a dialogue in regards to the alternatives and potential purposes of generative synthetic intelligence applied sciences throughout a various vary of disciplines.

“These occasions are one expression of our conviction that MIT has a particular duty to assist society come to grips with the tectonic forces of generative AI — to grasp its potential, comprise its dangers, and harness its energy for good,” mentioned MIT President Sally Kornbluth, in an e mail saying the week of programming earlier this fall.

Actions throughout MIT Generative AI Week, lots of which can be found to look at on YouTube, included:

MIT Generative AI: Shaping the Future Symposium

The week kicked off with a flagship symposium, MIT Generative AI: Shaping the Future. The total-day symposium featured welcoming remarks from Kornbluth in addition to two keynote audio system. The morning keynote speaker, Professor Emeritus Rodney Brooks, iRobot co-founder, former director of the Laptop Science and Synthetic Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), and Strong.AI founder and CTO, spoke about how robotics and generative AI intersect. The afternoon keynote speaker, famend media artist and director Refik Anadol, mentioned the interaction between generative AI and artwork, together with approaches towards information sculpting and digital structure in our bodily world.

The symposium included panel and roundtable discussions on subjects corresponding to generative AI foundations; science fiction; generative AI purposes; and generative AI, ethics, and society. The occasion concluded with a efficiency by saxophonist and composer Paul Winter. It was chaired by Daniela Rus, the Andrew (1956) and Erna Viterbi Professor of Electrical Engineering and Laptop Science (EECS) and director of CSAIL, and co-chaired by Cynthia Breazeal, MIT dean for digital studying and professor of media arts and sciences, and Sertac Karaman, professor of aeronautics and astronautics and director of the Laboratory for Info and Resolution Programs.

“One other Physique” Screening

The primary day of MIT Generative AI Week concluded with a particular screening of the documentary “One other Physique.” The SxSW Particular Jury Award-winning documentary follows a school pupil’s seek for solutions and justice after she discovers deepfake pornography of herself circulating on-line.

After the viewing, there was a panel dialogue together with the movie’s editor, Rabab Haj Yahya; David Goldston, director of the MIT Washington Workplace; Catherine D’Ignazio, affiliate professor of city science and planning and director of the Information + Feminism Lab; and MIT junior Ananda Santos Figueiredo.

Generative AI + Training Symposium

Drawing from the prolonged MIT neighborhood of college, analysis employees, college students, and colleagues, the Generative AI + Training Symposium provided thought-provoking keynotes, panel conversations, and reside demonstrations of how generative AI is remodeling studying expertise and instructing observe from Ok-12, post-secondary schooling, and workforce upskilling. The symposium included a hearth chat entitled, “Will Generative AI Remodel Studying and Training?” in addition to periods on the learner expertise, instructing observe, and large concepts from MIT.

This half-day symposium concluded with an innovation showcase the place attendees had been invited to interact immediately with demos of the newest in MIT analysis and ingenuity. The occasion was co-chaired by Breazeal and Christopher Capozzola, senior affiliate dean for open studying and professor of historical past.

Generative AI + Well being Symposium

The Generative AI + Well being Symposium highlighted AI analysis targeted on the well being of individuals and the well being of the planet. Talks illustrated progress in molecular design and sensing purposes to advance human well being, in addition to work to enhance climate-change projections, enhance effectivity in mobility, and design new supplies. A panel dialogue of six researchers from throughout MIT explored anticipated impacts of AI in these areas.

This half-day symposium was co-chaired by Raffaele Ferrari, the Cecil and Ida Inexperienced Professor of Oceanography within the Division of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences and director of the Program in Atmospheres, Oceans, and Local weather; Polina Golland, the Sunlin and Priscilla Chou Professor within the Division of EECS and a principal investigator at CSAIL; Amy Keating, the Jay A. Stein Professor of Biology, professor of organic engineering, and head of the Division of Biology; and Elsa Olivetti, the Jerry McAfee (1940) Professor in Engineering within the Division of Supplies Science and Engineering, affiliate dean of engineering, and director of the MIT Local weather and Sustainability Consortium.

Generative AI + Creativity Symposium

On the Generative AI + Creativity Symposium, college consultants, researchers, and college students throughout MIT explored questions that peer into the long run and picture a world the place generative AI-enhanced methods and strategies enhance the human situation. Matters explored included how mixed human and AI methods would possibly make extra inventive and higher selections than both one alone; how lifelong creativity, fostered by a brand new technology of instruments, strategies, and experiences, will help society; envisioning, exploring, and implementing a extra joyful, clever, significant, and equitable future; tips on how to make AI legible and reliable; and tips on how to interact an unprecedented mixture of various stakeholders to encourage and help inventive pondering, expression, and computation empowering all individuals.

The half-day symposium was co-chaired by Dava Newman, the Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics and director of the MIT Media Lab, and John Ochsendorf, the Class of 1942 Professor, professor of structure and of civil and environmental engineering, and founding director of the MIT Morningside Academy for Design.

Generative AI + Influence on Commerce Symposium

The Generative AI + Influence on Commerce Symposium explored the affect of AI on the observe of administration. The occasion featured a curated set of researchers at MIT; policymakers actively engaged on laws to make sure that AI is deployed in a way that’s honest and wholesome for the patron; enterprise capitalists investing in cutting-edge AI expertise; and personal fairness traders who want to use AI instruments as a aggressive benefit.

This half-day symposium was co-chaired by Vivek Farias, the Patrick J. McGovern (1959) Professor on the MIT Sloan College of Administration and Simon Johnson, the Ronald A. Kurtz (1954) Professor of Entrepreneurship on the MIT Sloan College of Administration.