Envisioning the way forward for computing | MIT Information



How will advances in computing remodel human society?

MIT college students contemplated this impending query as a part of the Envisioning the Way forward for Computing Prize — an essay contest through which they have been challenged to think about ways in which computing applied sciences may enhance our lives, in addition to the pitfalls and risks related to them.

Supplied for the primary time this 12 months, the Institute-wide competitors invited MIT undergraduate and graduate college students to share their concepts, aspirations, and imaginative and prescient for what they suppose a future propelled by developments in computing holds. Practically 60 college students put pen to paper, together with these majoring in arithmetic, philosophy, electrical engineering and pc science, mind and cognitive sciences, chemical engineering, city research and planning, and administration, and entered their submissions.

College students dreamed up extremely ingenious situations for a way the applied sciences of right now and tomorrow may affect society, for higher or worse. Some recurring themes emerged, resembling tackling points in local weather change and well being care. Others proposed concepts for explicit applied sciences that ranged from digital twins as a instrument for navigating the deluge of knowledge on-line to a cutting-edge platform powered by synthetic intelligence, machine studying, and biosensors to create customized storytelling movies that assist people perceive themselves and others.

Conceived of by the Social and Moral Tasks of Computing (SERC), a cross-cutting initiative of the MIT Schwarzman School of Computing in collaboration with the Faculty of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS), the intent of the competitors was “to create an area for college kids to suppose in a artistic, knowledgeable, and rigorous approach concerning the societal advantages and prices of the applied sciences they’re or can be creating,” says Caspar Hare, professor of philosophy, co-associate dean of SERC, and the lead organizer of the Envisioning the Way forward for Computing Prize. “We additionally wished to convey that MIT values such pondering.”

Prize winners

The competition applied a two-stage analysis course of whereby all essays have been reviewed anonymously by a panel of MIT school members from the faculty and SHASS for the preliminary spherical. Three qualifiers have been then invited to current their entries at an awards ceremony on Could 8, adopted by a Q&A with a judging panel and reside in-person viewers for the ultimate spherical.

The successful entry was awarded to Robert Cunningham ’23, a latest graduate in math and physics, for his paper on the implications of a customized language mannequin that’s fine-tuned to foretell a person’s writing primarily based on their previous texts and emails. Informed from the attitude of three fictional characters: Laura, founding father of the tech startup ScribeAI, and Margaret and Vincent, a pair in faculty who’re frequent customers of the platform, readers gained insights into the societal shifts that happen and the unexpected repercussions of the expertise.

Cunningham, who took house the grand prize of $10,000, says he got here up with the idea for his essay in late January whereas enthusiastic about the upcoming launch of GPT-4 and the way it could be utilized. Created by the builders of ChatGPT — an AI chatbot that has managed to seize standard creativeness for its capability to mimic human-like textual content, photos, audio, and code — GPT-4, which was unveiled in March, is the latest model of OpenAI’s language mannequin methods.

“GPT-4 is wild in actuality, however some rumors earlier than it launched have been even wilder, and I had a couple of lengthy airplane rides to take into consideration them! I loved this chance to solidify a obscure notion into an article, and since a few of my favourite works of science fiction are brief tales, I figured I might take the prospect to put in writing one,” Cunningham says.

The opposite two finalists, awarded $5,000 every, included Gabrielle Kaili-Could Liu, a senior majoring in arithmetic with pc science, and mind and cognitive sciences, for her entry on utilizing the reinforcement studying with human suggestions method as a instrument for reworking human interactions with AI; and Abigail Thwaites and Eliot Matthew Watkins, graduate college students within the Division of Philosophy and Linguistics, for his or her joint submission on computerized truth checkers, an AI-driven software program that they argue may probably assist mitigate the unfold of misinformation and be a profound social good.

“We have been so excited to see the superb response to this contest. It made clear how a lot college students at MIT, opposite to stereotype, actually care concerning the wider implications of expertise, says Daniel Jackson, professor of pc science and one of many final-round judges. “So lots of the essays have been extremely considerate and artistic. Robert’s story was a chilling, however completely believable tackle our AI future; Abigail and Eliot’s evaluation introduced new readability to what harms misinformation truly causes; and Gabrielle’s piece gave a lucid overview of a distinguished new expertise. I hope we’ll be capable of run this contest yearly, and that it’s going to encourage all our college students to broaden their views even additional.”

Fellow decide Graham Jones, professor of anthropology, provides: “The successful entries mirrored the unimaginable breadth of our college students’ engagement with socially accountable computing. They problem us to suppose otherwise about how one can design computational applied sciences, conceptualize social impacts, and picture future situations. Working with a cross-disciplinary panel of judges catalyzed a number of new conversations. As a sci-fi fan, I used to be thrilled that the highest prize went to a such a shocking piece of speculative fiction!”

Different judges on the panel for the ultimate spherical included:

  • Dan Huttenlocher, dean of the MIT Schwarzman School of Computing;
  • Aleksander Madry, Cadence Design Methods Professor of Laptop Science;
  • Asu Ozdaglar, deputy dean of lecturers for the MIT Schwarzman School of Computing and head of the Division of Electrical Engineering and Laptop Science;
  • Georgia Perakis, co-associate dean of SERC and the William F. Kilos Professor of Administration; and
  • Agustin Rayo, dean of the MIT Faculty of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences.

Honorable mentions

Along with the grand prize winner and runners up, 12 college students have been acknowledged with honorable mentions for his or her entries, with every receiving $500.

The honorees and the title of their essays embody:

  • Alexa Reese Canaan, Know-how and Coverage Program, “A New Means Ahead: The Web & Knowledge Financial system”;
  • Fernanda De La Torre Romo, Division of Mind and Cognitive Sciences, “The Empathic Revolution Utilizing AI to Foster Better Understanding and Connection”;
  • Samuel Florin, Division of Arithmetic, “Modeling Worldwide Options for the Local weather Disaster”;
  • Claire Gorman, Division of City Research and Planning (DUSP), “Grounding AI — Envisioning Inclusive Computing for Soil Carbon Functions”;
  • Kevin Hansom, MIT Sloan Faculty of Administration, “Quantum Powered Personalised Pharmacogenetic Improvement and Distribution Mannequin”;
  • Sharon Jiang, Division of Electrical Engineering and Laptop Science (EECS), “Machine Studying Pushed Transformation of Digital Well being Information”;
  • Cassandra Lee, Media Lab, “Contemplating an Anti-convenience Funding Physique”;
  • Martin Nisser, EECS, “In direction of Personalised On-Demand Manufacturing”;
  • Andi Qu, EECS, “Revolutionizing On-line Studying with Digital Twins”;
  • David Bradford Ramsay, Media Lab, “The Perils and Guarantees of Closed Loop Engagement”;
  • Shuvom Sadhuka, EECS, “Overcoming the False Commerce-off in Genomics: Privateness and Collaboration”; and
  • Leonard Schrage, DUSP, “Embodied-Carbon-Computing.”

The Envisioning the Way forward for Computing Prize was supported by MAC3 Influence Philanthropies.

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