In late November, faculty, staff, and students from across MIT participated in MIT Generative AI Week. The programming included a flagship full-day symposium in addition to 4 subject-specific symposia, all geared toward fostering a dialogue concerning the opportunities and potential applications of generative artificial intelligence technologies across a various range of disciplines.
“These events are one expression of our conviction that MIT has a special responsibility to assist society come to grips with the tectonic forces of generative AI — to know its potential, contain its risks, and harness its power for good,” said MIT President Sally Kornbluth, in an email announcing the week of programming earlier this fall.
Activities during MIT Generative AI Week, lots of which can be found to observe 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 speakers. The morning keynote speaker, Professor Emeritus Rodney Brooks, iRobot co-founder, former director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), and Robust.AI founder and CTO, spoke about how robotics and generative AI intersect. The afternoon keynote speaker, renowned media artist and director Refik Anadol, discussed the interplay between generative AI and art, including approaches toward data sculpting and digital architecture in our physical world.
The symposium included panel and roundtable discussions on topics reminiscent of generative AI foundations; science fiction; generative AI applications; and generative AI, ethics, and society. The event concluded with a performance by saxophonist and composer Paul Winter. It was chaired by Daniela Rus, the Andrew (1956) and Erna Viterbi Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) and director of CSAIL, and co-chaired by Cynthia Breazeal, MIT dean for digital learning and professor of media arts and sciences, and Sertac Karaman, professor of aeronautics and astronautics and director of the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems.
“One other Body” Screening
The primary day of MIT Generative AI Week concluded with a special screening of the documentary “One other Body.” The SxSW Special Jury Award-winning documentary follows a university student’s seek for answers and justice after she discovers deepfake pornography of herself circulating online.
After the viewing, there was a panel discussion including the film’s editor, Rabab Haj Yahya; David Goldston, director of the MIT Washington Office; Catherine D’Ignazio, associate professor of urban science and planning and director of the Data + Feminism Lab; and MIT junior Ananda Santos Figueiredo.
Generative AI + Education Symposium
Drawing from the prolonged MIT community of school, research staff, students, and colleagues, the Generative AI + Education Symposium offered thought-provoking keynotes, panel conversations, and live demonstrations of how generative AI is transforming learning experience and teaching practice from K-12, post-secondary education, and workforce upskilling. The symposium included a fireplace chat entitled, “Will Generative AI Transform Learning and Education?” in addition to sessions on the learner experience, teaching practice, and large ideas from MIT.
This half-day symposium concluded with an innovation showcase where attendees were invited to have interaction directly with demos of the newest in MIT research and ingenuity. The event was co-chaired by Breazeal and Christopher Capozzola, senior associate dean for open learning and professor of history.
Generative AI + Health Symposium
The Generative AI + Health Symposium highlighted AI research focused on the health of individuals and the health of the planet. Talks illustrated progress in molecular design and sensing applications to advance human health, in addition to work to enhance climate-change projections, increase efficiency in mobility, and design recent materials. A panel discussion of six researchers from across MIT explored anticipated impacts of AI in these areas.
This half-day symposium was co-chaired by Raffaele Ferrari, the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Oceanography within the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences and director of the Program in Atmospheres, Oceans, and Climate; Polina Golland, the Sunlin and Priscilla Chou Professor within the Department of EECS and a principal investigator at CSAIL; Amy Keating, the Jay A. Stein Professor of Biology, professor of biological engineering, and head of the Department of Biology; and Elsa Olivetti, the Jerry McAfee (1940) Professor in Engineering within the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, associate dean of engineering, and director of the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium.
Generative AI + Creativity Symposium
On the Generative AI + Creativity Symposium, faculty experts, researchers, and students across MIT explored questions that peer into the longer term and picture a world where generative AI-enhanced systems and techniques improve the human condition. Topics explored included how combined human and AI systems might make more creative and higher decisions than either one alone; how lifelong creativity, fostered by a recent generation of tools, methods, and experiences, can assist society; envisioning, exploring, and implementing a more joyful, artful, meaningful, and equitable future; the best way to make AI legible and trustworthy; and the best way to engage an unprecedented combination of diverse stakeholders to encourage and support creative pondering, expression, and computation empowering all people.
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 architecture and of civil and environmental engineering, and founding director of the MIT Morningside Academy for Design.
Generative AI + Impact on Commerce Symposium
The Generative AI + Impact on Commerce Symposium explored the impact of AI on the practice of management. The event featured a curated set of researchers at MIT; policymakers actively working on laws to make sure that AI is deployed in a fashion that’s fair and healthy for the patron; enterprise capitalists investing in cutting-edge AI technology; and personal equity investors who want to use AI tools as a competitive advantage.
This half-day symposium was co-chaired by Vivek Farias, the Patrick J. McGovern (1959) Professor on the MIT Sloan School of Management and Simon Johnson, the Ronald A. Kurtz (1954) Professor of Entrepreneurship on the MIT Sloan School of Management.