In 2014 (4 years before his death) Allen founded the Allen Institute for AI (AI2), a research institute focused on making scientific progress using artificial intelligence as a starting point. With more than 100 artificial intelligence scientists and experts from around the world, the AI2 is proud of the diversity and associations of its team. The focus is not on designing business models, but models of AI that benefit humanity.
The projects developed are funded by the institute, which gives researchers freedom and encourages them to seek answers to some of the biggest challenges in the industry.
Carissa Schoenic, Senior Program Manager and Communications Director at AI2, is responsible for defining, guiding and communicating the future of AI. Carissa has spent over a decade working in the forefront of artificial intelligence and computational knowledge initiatives. Before joining AI2 in 2014, it managed computable data and natural language analysis for the Wolfram Alpha knowledge engine, as well as implemented functionality and state-of-the-art computational cloud support for Amazon Web Services.
In his conversation with Cecilia Nicolini, director of the Opinno Research Center, as part of the MIT Emtech Digital LATAM 2019 conference, Carissa comments on the research she is carrying out to understand how language generators can produce fake news. Its goal is to design detectors that warn humans that the content they are taking as true is not really true.
Answering to the question about the contribution of AI2 to achieving that inclusion and diversity that is so necessary in this field, Carissa said that “The institution grants scholarships for women and minorities with poor representation for coding programs, and this is essential as they not only need computer experts, but also different profiles from all fields and degrees of expertise to create democratic and effective AI. “
Optimistic and visionary, he concluded by saying that “AI has the potential to transform our society, and the challenge of shaping AI development is ultimately the challenge of shaping our future. We are at an important point of technological inflection, and it will be up to us to responsibly balance our desire for greater intelligence and autonomy with the corresponding risks in this powerful technology. AI is an expression of the people who build and use it, and AI will empower humanity if we strive to get there. “
Oren Etzioni, AI2 CEO, says the most remarkable thing about this institute is that “since we are working in the front line, failure is definitely an option, although failure to measure and analyze our progress is not.”
Link to the complete interview below:
