A new institute at UMass Boston will focus on the social, ethical and diverse challenges and opportunities associated with artificial intelligence.
The university unveiled the Paul English Applied Artificial Intelligence Institute on Wednesday, saying it was conceived and funded by technology entrepreneur and UMass Boston graduate Paul English and will be “embedded in academic studies across campus.”
UMass Boston Provost Joseph Berger predicted that the institute will “drive the democratization of artificial intelligence by providing every UMass Boston student with fluency—and a competitive edge—in the ethical use of evolving AI-powered tools to improve processes and outcomes in his chosen environment.” Professional field.”
Artificial intelligence’s ability to make promising advances and potentially dangerous results has received more focus this year, and the US Senate Judiciary Committee held a public session on Tuesday to examine the situation and hear insiders.
“We believe government intervention will be critical to mitigating the risks of increasingly powerful models,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in his opening remarks, according to Yahoo Finance.
UMass Boston said it wants to give its graduates “the tools to shape the increasingly AI-enabled world of work.”
During a WBUR radio interview on Tuesday, Gov. Maura Healey said Massachusetts has “amazing potential when it comes to AI,” but cautioned that other states are competing in the sector while pushing for changes in fiscal and tax policies to help make the Bay State more attractive to residents and businesses.
According to UMass Boston, English has committed $5 million to found the institute, along with an associated grant fund. The Institute will launch in the 2023-2024 academic year with English funds and a $2 million grant from the UMass Foundation.
“We are at the beginning of a new era. Like the agricultural revolution, the development of the steam engine, the invention of the computer and the advent of the smartphone, the birth of artificial intelligence is fundamentally changing the way we live and work,” said UMass Boston Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco . “Like any transformative technology, AI raises social, ethical and diversity issues that UMass Boston is ideally placed to explore.”
