The University of Utah’s John and Marcia Price College of Engineering has launched its inaugural AI Summit for Utah on June 18, an event that gathered artificial intelligence researchers from various departments for an all-day symposium.
This event connected over 400 attendees, including faculty, students, industry partners, and policymakers from the region.
Dean Charles Musgrave opened the proceedings at the S. J. Quinney College of Law, emphasizing the boundless potential of artificial intelligence as we stand on the brink of a technological revolution.
Musgrave, a chemical engineer with over a decade’s experience in applying machine learning for material development, articulated that those at the forefront of AI will dominate various fields including science, economics, and national security.
He also noted that successful endeavors in AI could lead to advancements in art, entertainment, and personal satisfaction as well.
University trustee Steven Price echoed Musgrave’s sentiments, reflecting on the ways university research has contributed to public welfare over the years.
He asserted, ‘These are the ingredients that fertilized Utah’s growth,’ stressing that we are at a pivotal moment for AI.
Price urged the audience, ‘AI is moving fast, and we have to move faster.’
The symposium featured more than 60 student poster presentations, organized into four thematic panels that were interspersed with quick “lightning talks” and audience Q&A sessions.
The first panel, titled ‘AI in Sensing, Seeing, and Securing the World,’ included presentations from Weilu Gao, Ziad Al-Halah, and Guanhong Tao, with Varun Shankar serving as the moderator.
The discussions centered around the integration of AI systems with the physical world, highlighting the necessity for enhanced sensing and safety measures.
Weilu Gao presented an innovative optical neural engine aimed at accelerating computation in AI applications.
Next was the panel on ‘Next-Gen AI: From Supervision to Autonomy,’ moderated by Tucker Hermans.
The panel addressed the challenges AI systems face regarding data usage, emphasizing that not all applications can access massive datasets due to various constraints.
Jacob Hochhalter, Daniel Brown, and Vivek Srikumar contributed insights into the need for innovative low-cost approaches to AI training, which could benefit off-the-grid environments.
The symposium then tackled the ‘Nexus of Health, Humans, and Machines,’ moderated by Laura Hallock.
Panelists like Tolga Tasdizen and Neda Netagh discussed the interpretable AI models in radiology and the desire for reduced reliance on AI.
With applications in healthcare being among the most promising, the conversation revealed both technical and ethical dilemmas in employing AI within biological systems.
Topics included automated medical image analysis, understanding human vision, and the development of autonomous surgical robots that learn from human surgeons, presented by Alan Kuntz.
The panel concluded with Ashley Dalrymple’s exploration of reinforcement learning aimed at predicting walking-related events.
Finally, the symposium covered ‘Bridging AI and Infrastructure,’ moderated by Cathy Liu.
Ryan Johnson and Masood Parvania touched on AI applications in managing transportation networks and civic infrastructure, discussing issues such as snow mapping and autonomous power grid operations.
The panelists emphasized how machine learning techniques can help navigate the complexity of these interactions, including using digital twins to train against cyberattacks and to forecast water levels.
Overall, the AI Summit for Utah not only highlighted the interdisciplinary nature and immense potential of artificial intelligence but also served as a call to action for rapid advancement in the field.
As articulated by the summit’s leaders, the future of AI in Utah and beyond is bright and full of possibilities.
image source from：attheu
