AI Leadership Summit Explores How AI is Transforming Life

At the Summit for AI Institutes Leadership (SAIL),(opens in new window) AI leaders from across the country showcased pioneering research that applies artificial intelligence to agriculture, education, national security, health and many other fields. Held in Pittsburgh Oct. 7-10, the summit convened researchers from National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes(opens in new window), National Science Foundation (NSF)-led institutes focused on critically important areas of U.S. competitiveness. 

The meeting highlighted the significant impact of AI institutes across various sectors. It featured talks from luminaries including Tom Mitchell(opens in new window), SCS Founders University Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, Pat Yongpradit, chief academic officer for Code.org and Congresswoman Summer Lee (PA-12), whose district includes CMU.

More than 120 bills related to artificial intelligence(opens in new window) are currently circulating in Congress. 

“We have crumbling infrastructure and education reform needs and emergency management challenges and public health challenges, among so many other passing issues,” said Lee. “How can AI help us with this? How can AI harm it or hinder it? Are there ways that AI can make some of these problems worse? Answering these questions will likely be a defining conversation of this generation.” 

Institutes demonstrate work on campus

The summit included an AI expo day, held at CMU’s Tepper School of Business(opens in new window), where institutes presented their work in a tabling session.

Later, CMU President Farnam Jahanian(opens in new window) gave remarks before panel discussions. 

Jahanian said AI is changing the very nature of scientific discovery. He implored the attendees to use their expertise for good. 

“As leaders in AI, it's our prerogative to harness the power of these tools in an ethical and responsible way and make sure that society benefits,” he said. 

Jahanian also commented on the critical need for federal funding for this work, such as the historic investments made as part of the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act.

“That joins other recent legislation essentially in directing unprecedented amount of funding toward leveraging innovation to address national priorities and enhance United States economic competitiveness like never before, these and other measures are unleashing new opportunities for innovation, for work, workforce development, for education that directly bring the power of advanced technologies like AI, robotics, energy, advanced manufacturing and so on to communities around the nation,” he said. 

Carnegie Mellon experts show breadth and depth of AI’s impact

CMU was well represented at the summit by faculty and staff speaking in a variety of sessions. 

In a keynote speech, Mitchell discussed the transformative potential of AI for the field of education. He highlighted AI-driven platforms that continuously learn and adapt.

“If there's ever a decade when AI is going to change the nature of education, this is the decade,” Mitchell said. 

Cleotilde Gonzalez(opens in new window), a research professor in the Dietrich School of Humanities and Social Sciences(opens in new window) and co-director of CMU’s AI Institute for Societal Decision Making(opens in new window) (AI-SDM) , spoke about its mission. AI-SDM brings together experts in AI, computer scientists, data scientists and decision scientists to help people make better decisions.

“Ultimately, we want to improve human decision-making, and we do that through finding ways to figure out how to present those recommendations, when to present those recommendations, what kind of recommendations to present to whom,” Gonzalez said. 

Rayid Ghani(opens in new window), a distinguished career professor in the Machine Learning Department(opens in new window) and the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy(opens in new window), spoke about the importance of evaluating AI systems based on their impact on human lives, citing examples where AI was used in projects to reduce jail re-entry rates by providing mental health outreach and reduce homelessness by allocating rental assistance. 

“Instead of thinking about it as an AI model, it's a little piece in the middle that's helping people figure out how they should make decisions. Who should they prioritize? What kind of help do they need? How urgent is the help? And kind of making this much more about the outcomes than the machine learning model,” Ghani said. 

AI institutes continue to grow

NSF recently announced(opens in new window) two new institutes, NSF-Simons AI Institute for Cosmic Origins (NSF-Simons CosmicAI) and NSF-Simons AI Institute for the Sky (NSF-Simons SkAI), bringing the number of AI institutes to 27. 

In addition to leading AI-SDM, CMU faculty are involved in the AI Institute for Artificial and Natural Intelligence (ARNI)(opens in new window), AI Institute for Collaborative Assistance and Responsive Interaction for Networked Groups (AI-CARING)(opens in new window), the AI Institute for Future Edge Networks and Distributed Intelligence (AI-EDGE)(opens in new window) the and the USDA-NIFA AI Institute for Resilient Agriculture (AIIRA)(opens in new window).