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UNM hosts first-ever 'AI summit'
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A panel of professors discussed the evolution of artificial intelligence and its impact on education and research during the University of New Mexico鈥檚 first-ever AI Summit on Monday.
The panel of three was moderated by Melanie Moses, professor in the department of computer science, in the Centennial Engineering Center.
鈥淵ou will hear quite a bit more of research going on here where the technologies are really making possible things that people thought would have been impossible just a few years ago,鈥� Moses said. 鈥淥n the other hand, some of these disruptions are dangerous, and there are threats to privacy.鈥�
She said AI is changing the nature of warfare, transforming the economy and the way society communicates.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one thing to tell people, 鈥榃ell, your factory job is going to go away, so we鈥檒l retrain you and you鈥檒l do something else.鈥� That鈥檚 bad enough,鈥� Moses said. 鈥淭he idea of telling the artist, 鈥榊our art is no longer needed. We have machines to make that.鈥� Right? Those are really threats to what鈥檚 happening.鈥�
Moses asked students and faculty in attendance to think about the 鈥渋ncredible power we have to transform鈥� science, technology and medicine versus 鈥渢he real risks that we鈥檙e facing.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 hoping our experts are going to walk us through this and give us, at least, some ideas to move forward,鈥� she said.
, professor of medicine and director of the Center for Personalized Health at UNM, said there is 鈥渁 tremendous amount of interest and enthusiasm鈥� around AI. He likened the technology to the Wright brothers鈥� first flight in 1903.
鈥淭hey totally changed our way of life,鈥� Perkins said, 鈥渁nd the analogy is, is AI at that same stage? That it鈥檚 going to be exploding and challenging us. I sort of tend to think that鈥檚 the way we鈥檙e headed.鈥�
He said it is difficult to teach AI in medicine because biologists, for example, are not typically trained in computer science. But when he was teaching at the University of Chicago, his research team was composed of computer scientists, engineers and biologists.
鈥淵ou put that all together and we found that very productive in terms of adjusting medical problems, health care problems, etcetera,鈥� Perkins said.
Trilce Estrada is an associate professor of computer science whose research focuses on designing scalable machine learning techniques, which can be applied to automatic decision-making processes.
She likened AI to a forklift, a powerful piece of machinery she believes not everyone should use. Likewise, people who are interested in AI should know how to use it, Estrada said. She talked about the democratization of AI, the process of making its tools and technologies more accessible and usable by a wider range of people.
鈥淎I should not be democratized (by) inception,鈥� Estrada said. 鈥淏ut the benefits of AI should be democratized. People should be very well trained. Do not use something that you don鈥檛 really know how to use.鈥�
She said she is uncertain about the future of AI.
Victor Law, associate professor and program director of the Program of Organization, Information, and Learning Sciences, said he thinks about AI from a computer science perspective and recognizes people are using the technology 鈥渧ery differently to solve the same problems.鈥�
He asked attendees of the AI Summit whether they thought artificial intelligence would hinder students鈥� ability to learn basic skills, like how to write a paper.
鈥淭he question is, today, do we want our students to learn to put that semicolon? Is that important? I don鈥檛 know,鈥� Law said. 鈥淢aybe there are enough tools that somebody will put it there for us.鈥�
Following the discussion, Moses told attendees she thought this segment of the summit helped students prepare to 鈥渓everage the technology (AI) and not be overtaken by it.鈥�
In an interview following the event, Rachel DiPirro, a Ph.D. student studying electrical engineering, said AI is relevant to her research and how she is learning in the classroom. ChatGPT and CoPilot are two AI-operated programs she uses.
DiPirro said AI has its benefits such as allowing her to be more productive in her studies.
鈥淏ut also as they mentioned in the panel, sometimes the struggle is in learning. You want to make sure you鈥檙e learning and get value out of what you鈥檙e doing,鈥� she said.
DiPirro said the benefits of AI outweigh the risks, which she believes can sometimes be overblown.
鈥淚f it was going to destroy us, then what鈥檚 the point of it? I don鈥檛 know. I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 that dire of a situation,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l always find a way to adapt and learn more from it.鈥�
Moses said in an interview that the AI Summit was born out of her work as assistant to UNM鈥檚 vice president for research. The all-day event included not just the panel discussion, but research presentations by faculty, one-minute 鈥渓ighting talks鈥� and a poster session. One hundred and seven people registered for the summit, but organizers had to cap the attendance because of the size of the room it was in.
Editor's note: This story was corrected to reflect the name of the AI program ChatGPT.
