Category Archives: Computer Science

UF ramps up computer science education for K-12 teachers – Mainstreet Daily News Gainesville

University of Florida researchers and educators are spearheading a transformative approach to computer science education, providing Florida teachers with the skills to prepare students for a world driven by technological innovations.

TheCSEveryoneteam at UF has guided more than 300 educators, and thousands of K-12 students across the state have been impacted.

Launched in 2021 with the support ofKenneth C. Griffin, founder and chief executive officer of Citadel and founder of Griffin Catalyst, CSEveryone offers one of the most comprehensive career pathway programs in the country. The program aspires to serve as a national model for improving computer science education for K-12 learners.

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Through the initiative, any teacher in the country can take an online microcredential to earn a badge or engage with free practice assessments for the Florida Teacher Certification Examinations (FTCE). Teachers can also enroll at UF in an online graduate certificate program, as well as masters and doctoral programs, to further their education.

The CSEveryone Center for Computer Science Education is a newly founded center at UF, led byMaya Israel, Ph.D., an associate professor of educational technology and computer science education. Israel will continue the work of the CSEveryone initiative and elevate teachers capabilities around K-12 computer science education.

By equipping teachers with the skill sets and confidence to provide high-quality computer science education, the UF College of Education is transforming the states capacity to foster its technology economy, and positioning Florida to meet the demands of current and future employers, Israel said.

At UF last fall, CSEveryone held a computer science education summit that brought together representatives from colleges, universities, schools, and districts, as well as community stakeholders and nonprofit organizations.

In addition to preparing educators more broadly, CSEveryone recently received funding from Google to increase computer science learning opportunities for students with disabilities.

The CSEveryone team also works with districts in South Florida and across the state to develop a computer science inclusion professional development model. This model available to any teacher who works with K-12 learners with disabilities provides teachers with the instructional strategies and technologies to support all students.

Teachers have a limited understanding of how to provide effective computer science education to learners with disabilities, and there is a lack of accessible technologies, Israel said. The work we are doing impacts all of Floridas students and is a big step in the right direction for all learners, including people who might need their instruction to be more tailored to their individual needs.

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UF ramps up computer science education for K-12 teachers - Mainstreet Daily News Gainesville

Questioning AI – Endeavors – The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

February 20th, 2024

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In his two decades at Carolina, philosophy professor Thomas Hofweber has seen a lot of change. But within the past few years, that change has grown exponentially in the landscape of academia and beyond as artificial intelligence (AI) has taken his world by storm.

Originally from Germany, Hofweber got into philosophy by accident. He intended to study chemistry and math but took some philosophy classes on a whim when he began at the University of Munich.

Once I started, I loved it and I got totally stuck, he says.

Hofweber loved asking big questions and was even more captivated by trying to answer them. Studying philosophy enabled him to engage with different fields of study. He continues this collaboration with all types of academics by specializing in metaphysics and the philosophy of language and mathematics. Recently, much of his research and teaching has been focused on AI.

Artificial Intelligence is leading humanity to more efficient, productive industries. Its creating opportunities for health care advancement, personalized education, accelerated research, and optimal cities and infrastructure. And according to Hofweber, we are just at the tip of the iceberg with the technologys advancement.

But it is crucial to address potential challenges such as ethical considerations, job displacement, and bias, Hofweber says. His fascination with AI stems from its moral implications and the pressing concerns in decision-making algorithms.

These computational processes use predefined rules and patterns to analyze data and make choices or predictions. But they also have the potential to make errors and discriminate and can reflect existing biases in the data used for their training.

Theres so much going on. Its amazing, Hofweber says. But its also very hard to keep up because theres always some new development and so many people working in this area that its hard to stay on top of whats really happening.

In Spring 2019, Hofweber began teaching a class called AI and the Future of Humanity to discuss big challenges in the artificial intelligence field and how it will affect the future of human beings in both positive and negative ways.

The class examines topics like the extinction threat AI poses to civilization. Will these machines take over the world or are they a pathway for a new form of survival? How will they impact and change our workforce?

Ethical dilemmas are also a big discussion in the class. As advanced forms of AI emerge, Hofweber wonders what we owe them, how they will relate to us, and how we can positively influence the technology.

The course also examines metaphysical questions related to virtual reality and AI. Is a virtual reality an illusion or just a different kind of reality? Can minds and consciousness be realized by machines or computers?

Like the AI landscape itself, the course constantly shifts as Hofweber races to keep up with the fields rapid evolution.

AI is not a new phenomenon in philosophy. Since the Industrial Revolution, philosophers have debated whether machines have emotions or other human characteristics and if thinking a type of computation. Since early computing pioneers like Alan Turing have asked whether machines can exhibit intelligent behavior like humans, AI has been a topic of discussion in the field.

Hofweber first started considering these issues in graduate school at Stanford University. He worked with philosophers, linguists, and computer scientists to explore how symbols, like words or mathematical notations, use specific rules to convey meaning and represent information.

There was a great culture of cross-disciplinary collaboration, he says.

When he started working at Carolina, his research naturally connected to certain parts of the AI space, especially his focus on the philosophy of language. Understanding how communication works and how language relates to the world were important considerations when Hofweber began studying how language models, like chatbots, compare to humans.

ChatGPT is a recent example of how AI is much more accessible for the average person and has started cultural conversations about human interaction with the technology.

Hofweber noticed these conversations happening in different departments on Carolinas campus and recognized an interest in inter-departmental collaboration to better understand the philosophical foundations of these resources. Linguistics, computer science, and philosophy had a unique interconnectedness around the topic and so the AI Project was born.

Its supposed to be a research-focused project, he says. I thought it would be really good for people to learn from each other, collaborate a little bit more and talk to each other across these disciplines.

Informally, the AI project is a group that meets twice a month to discuss recent research in artificial intelligence. More formally it is a series of discussion and reading groups, research presentations, and lectures that enable cross-departmental understanding.

As the director of the project, Hofweber orchestrates a series of virtual events each semester that focus on a theme, like language models or explainability, enabling participants to approach AI from multiple angles and share insights.

If you get people together, you can look at the same thing from different perspectives and then exchange ideas and talk about it and that can be very helpful, Hofweber says.

Peter Hase, a Carolina PhD student studying computer science, works closely with Hofweber and appreciates the different viewpoints hes exposed to through the AI Project.

Computer scientists often live in a little bit of a bubble, he says. So, this jumped out to me as a big opportunity.

Under the the guidance of professor Mohit Bansal, Hase researches how machine learning models make decisions and develops models that enable computers to understand and generate human language that is clear and relevant.

For Hase, regular discussions through the AI Project have changed how he thinks about his research and reframed the problems he faces.

Its a good learning experience, he says. Hearing other peoples perspectives has provided new angles for thinking about problems.

Hofwebers own research is informed and inspired by the AI Project. In collaboration with colleagues in the computer science department, he investigates how language models represent the world, the nature of their modeling, and whether they adhere to the norms of rationality.

Whether or not the kind of intelligence you get from a language model is very similar to or very different from the kind of intelligence that we human beings have, he clarifies.

Language models dont learn by moving through physical and cultural worlds like humans do. They learn from text pulled from the internet. So, they should form contradictory beliefs, reflecting the contradictions in the text they learn from. But the inner workings of language models remain opaque, leaving us unaware of the extent to which their intelligence aligns with human norms of rationality.

Hofweber isnt scared by how much is unknown about the inner workings of AI, but he believes it will be a more urgent issue in the future. Understanding, controlling, and implementing safety measures within AI systems is crucial.

We might have a truly alien form of intelligence that can be studied and understood and that can help us understand what is significant about being human, he says.

While Hofwebers current studies wont directly affect the general public now, the progress he makes will eventually provide more transparency and insight into AI rationality and explainability.

The field of AI research remains vast, with countless unanswered questions, Hofweber says. Nevertheless, he is optimistic that his research, combined with the collaborative efforts of the AI Project, will contribute to a deeper understanding of these machines, benefiting society as a whole.

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Questioning AI - Endeavors - The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Georgia State University, Comcast and CodePath Announce Launch of New Computer Science Education and Career … – Georgia State University News

Partnership aimed at providing students with a new suite of career-ready CS and CIS courses and establishing new internship pathways.

ATLANTA Georgia State University and CodePath announced today (Feb. 15) a partnership that will support the launch of the CodePath E3 Program. This new program, which will be run by GSU and CodePath, provides students with high-quality, tech industry co-developed and vetted courses, student course and program support services, access to a network of professional engineers, and a career center offering 1:1 coaching and mentorships.

CodePath, the organization dedicated to reprogramming higher education to create the most diverse generation of technologists, works with colleges and universities around the country to provide both computer science (CS) and computer information systems (CIS) educational courses and career development and placement opportunities. Since its founding in 2017, more than 20,000 students have been admitted into CodePath programs, 64 percent of whom identify as low-income or coming from underrepresented communities.

This partnership represents an expanded commitment to the Atlanta region, as CodePath first expanded to Georgia State University in 2021. To date, CodePath has served nearly 500 CS majors at GSU.

As a tremendous tech hub, the City of Atlanta knows that investing in local pathways to tech careers is essential to building a resilient and prosperous community, said City of Atlanta Senior Technology Advisor Donnie Beamer. We are proud to support CodePath and Georgia State University working together to create an inclusive and diverse tech ecosystem in Atlanta with this new program that is being made available to thousands of students. CodePath's work aligns with our focus on equity, and we are excited to support their efforts to provide high-quality technical training to students from underrepresented backgrounds.

Nationally, CodePath alumni see an 80 percent increase in successful job or internship placement and leave school with a $92,000 average salary, which is nearly double that for non-computer science graduates.

The partnership is currently being offered to the more than 3,000 computer science students at GSU and the 1,000 computer science students at Georgia States Perimeter College. The E3 Program is supported by grants from the United States Economic Development Administration, the Kapor Foundation and Project UP, Comcasts $1 billion initiative to connect people to the internet and provide the digital skills training needed to advance economic mobility.

Comcast is excited to provide financial support to CodePath and GSU to help launch this critically important program that will create new opportunities for students in Atlanta and beyond, said Dalila Wilson-Scott, EVP and Chief Diversity Officer of Comcast Corporation and President of Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation. Technology is advancing at a rapid pace, so we know it is imperative that our educational and career preparation programs have the resources needed to stay up to date. We look forward to seeing Atlanta play a major role in developing the next generation of technologists and engineers.

This new program which further supports our Beyond College to Career and Student Success 2.0 strategic plan pillars will help us prepare all students, including more women and diverse students, for rewarding careers in tech, said Georgia State President M. Brian Blake. As a computer scientist and a person of color, this is extra special for me.

This is a big deal for the students in the GSU system and companies nationwide due to increasing demand for CS and CIS grads. Our goal at CodePath is to work with great institutions like GSU and funders like Comcast, so that we can meet the needs of and best prepare all of the students who take these courses to step seamlessly into fulfilling internships and careers, said CodePath Co-Founder and CEO Michael Ellison. By doing this work, we are helping to bridge the gap for communities of kids who for too long have felt shut out of tech. This new program represents a massive acceleration of our work in Atlanta and we are grateful to the entire team at GSU, Comcast, the Atlanta Mayors Office, and the U.S. Economic Development Administration for their support of these efforts.

Tackling the challenges of today calls for nurturing a new generation of tech leaders individuals brimming with creativity, adaptability, and the entrepreneurial spirit to drive innovation and implement transformative solutions, said Isabelle Monlouis, associate director of the Russell Center for Entrepreneurship in the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Institute at Georgia State. This groundbreaking partnership, carefully crafted to be scalable and replicable across various educational institutions and communities, empowers students who were once overlooked to emerge as leaders in the tech industry.

CodePath program participants can take courses in Technical Interview Prep (TIP), Web Development, iOS Development, Android Development, and Cybersecurity. Students will also get access to CodePath industry partners for site tours and paid internships.

Students at GSU and Perimeter College can start enrolling in the E3 Pathway program now by visiting https://www.codepath.org/e3. Courses began in spring 2024.

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Georgia State University, Comcast and CodePath Announce Launch of New Computer Science Education and Career ... - Georgia State University News

Penn Engineering: First BSE Program in Artificial Intelligence in the Ivy League – University of Pennsylvania

Penn Engineering: First BSE Program in Artificial Intelligence in the Ivy League

The University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science has introduced its bachelor of science in engineering (BSE) in artificial intelligence (AI) degree, the first undergraduate major of its kind among Ivy League universities and one of the very first AI undergraduate engineering programs in the U.S.

The rapid rise of generative AI is transforming virtually every aspect of life: health, energy, transportation, robotics, computer vision, commerce, learning and even national security. This produces an urgent need for innovative, leading-edge AI engineers who understand the principles of AI and how to apply them in a responsible and ethical way.

Inventive at its core, Penn excels at the cutting edge, said Penn Interim President J. Larry Jameson. Data, including AI, is a critical area of focus for our strategic framework, In Principle and Practice, and this new degree program represents a leap forward for the Penn engineers who will lead in developing and deploying these powerful technologies in service to humanity. We are deeply grateful to Raj and Neera Singh, whose leadership helps make this possible.

The Raj and Neera Singh Program in Artificial Intelligence equips students to unlock AIs potential to benefit our society. Students in the program will be empowered to develop responsible AI tools that can harness the full knowledge available on the internet, provide superhuman attention to detail, and augment humans in making transformative scientific discoveries, researching materials for chips of the future, creating breakthroughs in healthcare through new antibiotics, applying life-saving treatments, and accelerating knowledge and creativity.

Penn Engineering has long been a pioneer in computing and education, with ENIAC, the first digital computer, and the first PhD in computer science, said Raj Singh. This proud legacy of innovation continues with Penn Engineerings AI program, which will produce engineers that can leverage this powerful technology in a way that benefits all humankind. We are thrilled to continue investing in Penn Engineering and the students who can best shape the future of this field, said Neera Singh.

The BSE in AI curriculum offers high-level coursework in topics including machine learning, computing algorithms, data analytics and advanced robotics.

The timing of this new undergraduate program comes as AI poses one of the most promising, yet challenging, opportunities the world currently faces, said Vijay Kumar, the Nemirovsky Family Dean of Penn Engineering. Thanks to the generosity of Raj and Neera Singh, Penn Engineerings BSE in artificial intelligence program, we are preparing the next generation of engineers to create a society where AI isnt just a tool, but a fundamental force for good to advance society in ways previously unimaginable.

Leading the program will be George J. Pappas, the UPS Foundation Professor of Transportation in Penn Engineering. Realizing the potential of AI for positive social impact stands as one of the paramount challenges confronting engineering, said Dr. Pappas. We are excited to introduce a cutting-edge curriculum poised to train our students as leaders and innovators in the ongoing AI revolution.

The programs courses will be taught by world-renowned faculty in Amy Gutmann Hall, Penn Engineerings newest building. An anticipated hub for data science on campus and for the Philadelphia community, Amy Gutmann Hall and its state-of-the-art facilities will further transform Penns capabilities in engineering education, research, and innovation as Penn Engineering advances the development of artificial intelligence.

Our carefully selected curriculum reflects the reality that AI has come into its own as an academic discipline, not only because of the many amazing things it can do, but also because we think its important to address fundamental questions about the nature of intelligence and learning, how to align AI with our social values, and how to build trustworthy AI systems, said Zachary Ives, the Adani Presidents Distinguished Professor and chair of the department of computer and information science in Penn Engineering.

The program will begin in fall 2024, with applications for existing University of Pennsylvania students who would like to transfer into the 2024 cohort available this fall. Fall 2025 applications for all prospective students will be made available in fall 2024. Visit the new website at https://ai.seas.upenn.edu/.

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Penn Engineering: First BSE Program in Artificial Intelligence in the Ivy League - University of Pennsylvania

Bridging human and computer languages – College of Arts and Sciences – The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Masters student Lucas Adelino followed his passion for computational linguistics and natural language understanding to Carolina.

Lucas Adelino is fascinated by how we use languages to communicate meaning, and how we can help computers to understand it.

Adelino, who is originally from Recife, Brazil, took his first linguistics classes while earning his M.A. in adult education and an English Language Teaching certificate at Auburn University in Alabama.

Those were the most inspiring courses I took in my time at Auburn, said Adelino.

After graduating and beginning a job as a Portuguese language tutor at Carolinas Academic Support Program for Student Athletes, he was inspired to start his masters in linguistics at UNC.

Adelino was especially interested in exploring computational linguistics the intersection of computer science and the analysis and synthesis of language and speech. Within this field, natural language understanding piqued his interest.

Using language to communicate meaning might at first seem unique to natural human languages, but theres actually a lot of overlap between how natural languages and formal languages (like mathematical notation) express meaning, said Adelino, who is earning a graduate certificate in computational linguistics in addition to his masters.

He added that the complex creativity used in human languages can make it pretty challenging to pin down what a sentence means in a way that is suitable for computers to understand.

Adelinos graduate research seeks to help merge human and computer languages by studying paraphrases, statements that convey similar meanings using different wording.

Through his research, he asks: What are the linguistic operations that produce different paraphrase types, and can we design systems to automatically recognize them?

Its an interesting time for any research on natural language processing, he said. Platforms like ChatGPT have made a huge impact. They obviously arent the answer to everything, but they work well enough to pose all sorts of interesting questions and spark intense debate in the field.

In addition to his graduate courses and thesis work, Adelino helps Carolina undergraduate students begin their exploration of both UNC and linguistics as a teaching assistant for the first-year course Data Literacy Lab a workshop-style class that examines the ways in which professional data analysts think about and manage data and graduate research consultant for the class Textual Analysis with R.

Its fantastic and likely the most rewarding part of my job here at UNC, said Adelino of mentoring fellow Tar Heels.

When hes not studying, researching or teaching, Adelino is most likely weightlifting or gaming. As he approaches the end of his final semester in his masters, hes looking forward to continuing his academic journey by earning his Ph.D. in computational linguistics.

This dream would not be possible without the mentoring Ive had from my professors and peers at Carolina, he said. Each and every one of them has been so passionate and so generous with sharing their knowledge. It has made a huge impact on me.

By Jess Abel, College of Arts and Sciences

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Bridging human and computer languages - College of Arts and Sciences - The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

In her memory: Wife’s death drives data scientist to improve the system – Scope

Amir Bahmani, PhD, reached a desperate low in his life following the death of his wife, Someyra, in 2014. Doctors mistook her terrible pain for an inflamed gallbladder, missing the signs of a malignant cancer.

"If they had collected the data, they would have seen that something was going on internally, that there was a big shift underway that occurs with cancer patients," said Bahmani, director of the Stanford Deep Data Research Center. "They might have been able to catch it early and give her a better chance."

In his grief, he realized how much data science could impact medicine and potentially save lives. That's when he resolved to help close that gap and bring the disciplines closer together for the sake of realizing a precision medicine approach -- the type that could have made a difference for Someyra.

"We want to create a common language between engineers, biologists and physicians," said Bahmani, a high-performance computer scientist. "We don't need to know everything, but we need to know enough to communicate efficiently with each other."

We don't need to know everything, but we need to know enough to communicate efficiently with each other.

Bahmani was ready to dedicate his life to medicine. But, as an Iranian immigrant without financial means, he faced major obstacles. He had been the first in his class in Iran to obtain a fellowship abroad -- an almost unthinkable possibility -- obtaining a research fellowship at North Carolina State University, where he received a PhD in computer science.

And after battling to obtain visas, Someyra, whom he had met as an undergraduate, was able to join him as a research assistant in engineering at NC State. Together they dreamed of raising a family in America and creating a better life for themselves.

Then came the terrible side pains and suddenly a young husband's worst nightmare was unfurling before his eyes. Someyra was just 26 when she died.

But a grieving Bahmani couldn't have anticipated the challenges he would face in continuing on alone with their shared American dream. After he returned to Iran to bury Someyra, he said he narrowly escaped being drafted into the Iranian army and then also nearly lost his research fellowship because of delays in renewing his visa, which was held up by Iranian authorities.

"In six months, I lost everything. I lost my best friend -- my wife -- and now I was afraid I was going to lose my career," he said. Then, a stroke of good luck: He received a note from the U.S. Embassy in Armenia that his visa awaited him there.

Back in the United States, more tests also awaited him. Bahmani's Iranian background prevented him from working with U.S. national laboratory scientists in high-performance computing. Fortunately, a mentor introduced him to researchers at the Duke Cancer Institute at Duke University School of Medicine.

That would lead him to his first big break: a $10,000 Amazon Web Services (AWS) grant through a program to fight cancer using cloud services, a cost-efficient method for storing and processing large quantities of data. He went on to collaborate with the Duke researchers to publish his first cancer research paper in 2015 on a rapid-fire statistical technique to associate certain cancers with specific mutations.

That introduction to genetics launched Bahmani on a fascinating, if difficult, course. As a computer scientist, the world of genetics seemed daunting. There was so much to be learned. He recalls hearing the term "messenger RNA" from his Duke collaborator early on.

I didn't know what (messenger RNA) was. It's scary when you are in a different field.

"I didn't know what it was," he said. "It's scary when you are in a different field."

To expand his knowledge and embrace the challenge, he got an internship that summer at Illumina Inc., which builds computer systems for genetic analysis. He was hired at the Palo Alto, California, company the following year and then joined Stanford Medicine in 2017 as a biomedical data scientist working under the wing of Michael Snyder, PhD, the Stanford W. Ascherman, FACS Professor in Genetics and chair of the Department of Genetics.

That year, Snyder was able to self-diagnose Lyme disease before he had any symptoms by using a wearable device that showed measurable signs of an internal fight with a pathogen. Snyder published a major study on the process, which involved collecting massive quantities of data -- two petabytes, or two million gigabytes.

Bahmani said it was clear they needed a better way to store and process all that data so he turned to cloud computing to help build a system called My Personal Health Dashboard (MyPHD) that has since facilitated more than 30 research studies involving over 10,000 participants.

Using the technology, he and his collaborators -- including physicians, geneticists and computer scientists -- developed two algorithms to detect COVID-19 infection as much as seven or eight days before symptoms occur, based on internal changes in the body. They also devised a COVID-19 alert system to warn people early of a developing infection. That work was published in 2022 in Nature Medicine.

Bahmani wanted to expand the community of people who could work on these complex, multidisciplinary problems. So, with Snyder's help, he developed a course, Cloud Computing for Biology and Healthcare, that included lectures by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and other luminaries in the field.

"I have always believed that in order to deliver precision medicine, we need to deal with precision education," said Bahmani, now a lecturer in the Department of Genetics. "If anyone around the globe wants to contribute to medicine, they should have a chance."

More recently, he has developed a new certificate program, Fundamentals of Precision Medicine and Cloud Computing, a self-paced curriculum on medicine, genetics and data science for high school, college and graduate students. It begins with lessons on data privacy and moves on to topics such as programming, statistics, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, medical imaging, genomics and wearable devices.

Bahmani is passionate about making these educational opportunities free to underserved students -- those with incomes less than $70,000 -- as he believes these trainees have much to offer the world of medicine.

Moreover, he wants to give back to a system where people like him -- an Iranian immigrant of modest background -- can thrive when given opportunities they wouldn't otherwise have. The program is offered through a nonprofit for which he is seeking additional support.

To truly build trust and establish inclusive healthcare systems, we need to prepare more researchers and experts from underprivileged communities.

"To truly build trust and establish inclusive healthcare systems, we need to prepare more researchers and experts from underprivileged communities. We want different voices from different communities," he said.

In the process, he hopes to save more patients from the kind of missteps that took his wife from him.

"This is all done in her memory," he said. "Maybe we can avoid such tragedies for others by detecting these diseases much earlier."

Main image: Jim Gensheimer

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In her memory: Wife's death drives data scientist to improve the system - Scope

Adams Establish Endowed Scholarship to Empower Future Innovators in Computer Science – News – UA Little Rock – University of Arkansas at Little Rock

In a display of commitment to the importance of technology and education, a Conway couple has made a generous donation to create an endowed scholarship for computer science majors at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Jerry and Madelyn Adams donated $30,000 to create the Jerry and Madelyn Adams Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship, which will provide assistance for education-related expenses including tuition, books, fees, and room and board. The scholarship will be awarded to a full- or part-time undergraduate computer science major with a GPA of 3.25 or higher and will be based on financial need and/or merit.

UA Little Rock is a terrific school, and my time on the Board of Visitors and advisory board has shown me what an impact the university can make for its students, Jerry Adams said. Even during my time at Acxiom, we recruited heavily from UA Little Rock because the students were very mature and applied themselves well in their careers. I am very excited about UA Little Rocks leadership, and I think the school and the students have an exciting future ahead of them.

This donation is a part of the Centennial Campaign, UA Little Rocks largest fundraising effort to date. The university is working to raise $250 million by its 100-year anniversary in 2027.

Jerry Adams, who serves as a member of the advisory board for the Donaghey College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, said the couple decided to make the donation after hearing about innovative steps the Department of Computer Science has taken in recent years.

These innovations include the addition of a cybersecurity major in 2021 and a recent partnership with the Arkansas Center for Data Sciences to create a program to strengthen educational pathways for computer science majors through the combination of scholarships, internships, apprenticeships, and workforce development.

I also want to acknowledge Dr. Mary Goods incredible impact on me, Jerry Adams said. Mary Good, who served as founding dean of the former Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology, was recruited by former Chancellor Chuck Hathaway just before I joined the UA Little Rock Board of Visitors. I took over as chair of BioVentures after Mary joined UA Little Rock. We worked on many important projects together. Her contributions to UA Little Rock were enormous. She was a good influence on me and thousands of others.

The Adams recent donation is a profound investment and testament to their commitment to higher education in Arkansas.

Education is the future, Jerry Adams said. We live in a knowledge economy, and its becoming more and more critical for our people to have competent computer skills. Its so important for people to understand technology and have the education to do so to have a productive, 21st century life.

Education is everything, Madelyn Adams added.

Jerry Adams graduated with a bachelors degree in English from the University of the South, and Madelyn Adams studied at the University of Iowa. The couple moved to Arkansas in 1973, where Jerry Adams was one of the founders of Acxiom. He retired from Acxiom in 2007 after 34 years serving in a variety of senior leadership roles. He then founded the Arkansas Research Alliance in 2008 and served as president and CEO until 2021.

He continues to stay active in the community serving on a number of boards, including the Arkansas Community Foundation, Interfaith Center, Arkansas Imagination Library, Conway Development Corporation, Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, Syrian Emergency Task Force, and Winrock International.

The Adams live in Conway and are the proud parents of two sons and four grandchildren.

For more information on the Centennial Campaign, visit ualr.edu/centennial to find out how your contribution can make an impact through scholarships, student support, program excellence, and improving the living and learning environment at UA Little Rock.

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Adams Establish Endowed Scholarship to Empower Future Innovators in Computer Science - News - UA Little Rock - University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Bowie State University conducts rescue robot demonstration with Defense Department funding – Capital Gazette

A team of computer science students at Bowie State University on Thursday demonstrated one of the robotics projects theyve been working on with a grant from the Department of Defense.

The ultimate goal is for the robots to be used for rescue missions or reconnaissance, said Anthony Herron, 30, a doctoral student from Upper Marlboro. Right now, theyre [the robots] just trying to maintain distance on their way to a specific point.

Herron is part of a six-member team: three undergraduate students and three masters and doctoral students. Darsana Josyula, a computer science professor at Bowie State since 2006,oversees the project is and is available for support as the students do the work themselves.

Bowie State is part of a consortium of universities, led by Howard University, that serves as a University Affiliated Research Center, or UARC. Howard was named the 15th UARC last January. Each consortium conducts research with DOD funding.

Howard received a UARC grant last year worth $90 million over five years, said Jonathan Saxon, a spokesperson for Bowie State. The other member institutions of the consortium are Jackson State University, Tuskegee University, Hampton University, Norfolk State University, Delaware State University, Florida Memorial University, and Tougaloo College. Howard is the lead institution for the grant.

During Thursdays demonstration, students used computer code they had written to make the robots do simple tasks like maintaining equal distance between each other and traveling to a specific point.

One robot is about 18 inches long and about 8 inches deep. The other was about 2 feet long and about 18 inches deep thanks toits oversized off-road tires. The robots come equipped with PlayStation 4 controllers for manual use.

During the demonstration, the smaller one used a LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensor system to see where it was going while in operation and the larger one used a sonar attachment that allowed it to detect sound. The next step for the team is to use the data theyve collected during the demonstration and eventually prepare the robots to avoid obstacles.

Herrons older brother, Andre Herron, 33, whos working on his masters in computer science, said the hardest part about working with the robots is the constant debugging and adapting they have to do to achieve the desired result. . The elder Herron anticipates continuing his work with artificial intelligence and computer science for the Department of Defense after he completes his degree.

The other students on the team present for the demonstration were Hubert Kyeremateng-Boateng, 41, originally from Ghana but now living in Severn. Hes a seven-year part-time doctoral student currently doing cyber security work as a Department of Defense contractor. The undergraduates included Oluwabukunmi Jaiyeola, 18, a sophomore ROTC officer. Jaiyelo is the youngest student on the team. He was raised in Nigeria and is a computer science major focused on cyber security.

Josyula said its great for the student body to see her students working with the robots because it can entice to explore computer science.

Its really exciting because this gives an opportunity to attract more people to this area, she said. Sometimes people get excited when they see what other students are doing. It makes computer science world more tangible for them.

From left, Anthony Herron, Hubert Kyeremateng-Boateng, Andre Herron and Dr. Darsana Josyula work on testing the robots. Bowie State is doing research for the DoD working on programming search and rescue robots. (Paul W. Gillespie/Staff)

From left, Oluwa Bukunmi, Dr. Darsana Josyula, Anthony Herron and Andre Herron, work on testing the robots. Bowie State is doing research for the DoD working on programming search and rescue robots. (Paul W. Gillespie/Staff)

Doctoral student Anthony Herron works on programing the robots. Bowie State is doing research for the DoD working on programming search and rescue robots. (Paul W. Gillespie/Staff)

Masters student Andre Herron, left and his brother, doctoral student Anthony Herron work on programing the robots. Bowie State is doing research for the DoD working on programming search and rescue robots. (Paul W. Gillespie/Staff)

Doctoral students, from left, Anthony Herron and Hubert Kyeremateng-Boateng work on testing the robots. Bowie State is doing research for the DoD working on programming search and rescue robots. (Paul W. Gillespie/Staff)

Doctoral students, from left, Hubert Kyeremateng-Boateng and Anthony Herron, work on programing the robots. Bowie State is doing research for the DoD working on programming search and rescue robots. (Paul W. Gillespie/Staff)

From left, Andre Herron, Dr. Darsana Josyula and Hubert Kyeremateng-Boateng work on testing the robots. Bowie State is doing research for the DoD working on programming search and rescue robots. (Paul W. Gillespie/Staff)

Masters student Andre Herron, left, sophomore Oluwa Bulcunmi, center and doctoral student Anthony Herron work on programing the robots. Bowie State is doing research for the DoD working on programming search and rescue robots. (Paul W. Gillespie/Staff)

Dr. Darsana Josyula and doctoral student Anthony Herron work on programing the robots. Bowie State is doing research for the DoD working on programming search and rescue robots. (Paul W. Gillespie/Staff)

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Bowie State University conducts rescue robot demonstration with Defense Department funding - Capital Gazette

The Future of Artificial Intelligence in Computer Science – The Good Men Project

AI is taking over! The 21st century witnessed a meteoric rise in artificial intelligence technologies. Propelled by stellar advancements in electronic and software technology, AI system development accelerated to new heights. Right about the same time, vast volumes of digital data, the fuel for AI and data science systems, were being generated at high velocities as the Internet and myriad digital systems began to increase. Its as if the stars aligned perfectly for AI to rise and transform the world as we know it. Today, AI systems have become integral to almost every industrial and economic sector. Intelligent automation, predictive analytics, generative systems the benefits are just too much for anyone to ignore.

Amongst all the different domains & sectors, very few have been affected as profoundly as computer science. The realm of computer science intertwines intricately with AI. Computer science and engineering are core subjects in AI systems development, and both share a symbiotic relationship.

How will AI change the future of computer science? What is the future and long-term impact of AI on the computer science sector? Subject matter experts from MyAssignmentHelp UK, a leading computer science assignment help service, uncover some amazing insights.

When it comes to computer science, AI systems need to be versatile enough to aid in the design, development, upgradation, repair, and maintenance of systems. Generating codes for system design, automating manufacturing and/or operations, providing vital insights regarding application and/or operations, aiding in the upgradation & integration of new features with the right kind of training and tuning, AI systems can do all such things and more.

ChatGPT is a neural network-based deep learning architecture that can understand and generate natural human language using advanced mathematics, computational linguistics, and powerful data processing capabilities.

ChatGPT has now become a handy assistant for coders and developers alike. The AI is capable of generating highly relevant and accurate responses for different kinds of programming-related responses.

Leading chipmakers such as Intel, Nvidia, and AMD are now designing hardware specifically tailored for AI operations. Googles Pixel 6 smartphone comes with built-in machine learning capabilities and boasts of a neural architecture search.

The clamour for AI-powered solutions by businesses all over has shot up the demand for machine learning & deep learning tools, applications, and hardware architectures. Googles proprietary Tensor Processing Units ensure ultrafast, highly accurate, and precise calculations for image processing and natural language processing.

Google has now made TPU designs open-source, making powerful AI-based hardware accessible to the wider computer science community and industry at large.

For years, using computers meant entering some commands or using limited sets of hardcoded instructions to carry out some task. AI came and changed things up.

No longer do you need to type in specific commands to make digital systems. AI tech, such as computer vision and natural language processing, enables computer systems to interact with humans just like other human beings. You can speak naturally to an AI chatbot and receive incredibly accurate responses. Vision systems can provide detailed information about anything or even anyone just by taking some scans.

The underlying machine and deep learning algorithms have enabled computers to learn & deduce on their own. There has been a paradigm shift in the conceptual designing practice in the computer science domain with the widespread implementation of AI. Amazons Alexa can now search the Internet for you, while Teslas AI-driven cars can get to your destination in the safest and fastest way possible.

Generative AI systems such as GPT-4 and ChatGPT are revolutionizing learning experiences. Did you know that ChatGPT has a chance of delivering 95% correct responses for any computer science, engineering, and programming question you ask? And it can do so within seconds, much faster than any human professor or tutor out there.

Generative AI can help answer any and all queries & questions on any topic in computer science. They can elucidate concepts and help you achieve that Eureka moment when you are stuck while developing your algorithms and/or codes. Systems like ChatGPT can generate intelligent hints and guide learners, whether students or professionals, in the right direction.

No wonder ChatGPT was an in-demand job skill for tech aspirants in 2023?!

Well, those were some of the most prominent ways in which AI has become a critical aspect of the future of computer science. The future of human civilization is computerized, and AI will soon become the centre of it all. If you are a tech aspirant, then acquiring and developing proper AI skills is essential for a bright future. Study hard, take part in projects, and, if need be, get expert machine learning & computer science assignment help from MyAssignmentHelp.co.uk.

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The Future of Artificial Intelligence in Computer Science - The Good Men Project

Mehran Sahami on AI and safeguarding society – Stanford Report – Stanford University News

Image credit: Claire Scully

As engineers and computer scientists make rapid advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence, they are being compared to the physicists of the mid-20th century. Its a parallel Stanford computer scientist Mehran Sahami makes explicit in his introduction to students taking his CS 182: Ethics, Public Policy, and Technological Change course when he shows them a photo of a billowing mushroom cloud from the nuclear bomb being dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945.

In the 20th century, unleashing the power of the atom was a physical power but today we have an informational power, and its just as, if not more powerful, because information is what impacts peoples decision-making processes, said Sahami, the Tencent Chair of the Computer Science Department and the James and Ellenor Chesebrough Professor in the School of Engineering. Theres a tremendous amount of responsibility there.

For Sahami, it is crucial in 2024 that society, business leaders, and policymakers safeguard the future from the unintended consequences of AI.

When OpenAI launched ChatGPT to the public on Nov. 30, 2022, it prompted sensationalism and controversy. Anyone can now ask the large language model to perform any number of text-based tasks, and in seconds a personalized response is given.

Sahami described ChatGPT as an awakening. This was one of the first big applications where AI was put in peoples hands, and they were given an opportunity to see what it can do, he said. People were blown away by what the technology was capable of.

Sahami thinks that one of the exciting areas where generative AI could be applied is in personalized services like tutoring, coaching, and even therapy, an industry that is thinly stretched.

But AI is expensive to build and services like these can come with hefty fees, Sahami pointed out.

Of concern is whether these services will be accessible to vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations,groups that stand to benefit from them the most.

One of the places I really worry a lot about is who is getting the gains of AI, Sahami said. Are those gains being concentrated in people who were already advantaged before or can it actually level the playing field? To level the playing field requires conscious choices to allocate resources to allow that to happen. By no means will it just happen naturally by itself.

In the coming year, Sahami also expects to see AI impact the workforce, whether through labor displacement or augmentation.

Sahami points out that the labor market shift will be the result of choices made by people, not technology. AI by itself is not going to cause anything, he said. People make the decisions as to whats going to happen.

As AI evolves, what sorts of things do we put in place so we dont get big shocks to the system?

Some measures could include retraining programs or educational opportunities to show people how to use these tools in their lives and careers.

I think one of the things that will be front and center this coming year is how we think about guardrails on this technology in lots of different dimensions, Sahami said.

In 2023, President Biden issued the Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence that urged the government, private sector, academia, and civil society to consider some of those safeguards.

The White Houses executive order has shined a spotlight on the fact that the government wants to act and should act, Sahami said.

While Sahami is heartened by the order, he also has concerns.

The real question is what will happen with that in the coming year and how much will be followed up by agencies, he said.

One worry Sahami has is whether people in both government and private sectors have the right skill set to ensure the order is being carried out effectively.

Some of these issues have a lot of subtleties and you want to make sure the right expertise is in the room, Sahami said. You need people with deep technical expertise to make sure that that policy is actually well guided, he added, pointing out there is a risk that one can come up with some policy that seems well intentioned, but the details actually dont mesh with how the technology works.

Over the past few months, OpenAI made newspaper headlines again this time, reports were focused on the companys founder and Sahamis former student, Sam Altman. Over a chaotic few days, Altman was ousted from the company but quickly brought back in, along with a restructured board.

What happened to OpenAI has generated a spotlight on thinking about the fragility of some of the governance structures, Sahami said.

Debated across the media was OpenAIs unique business model. OpenAI started as a mission-driven nonprofit but later established a for-profit subsidiary to expand its work when it felt the public sector could no longer support its goals. It was reported that disagreements emerged between Altman and the board about the companys direction.

I dont think this is going to be the first or last time were going to see these tensions between what we want and what is realistic, Sahami said. I think those kinds of things will continue and those kinds of debates are healthy.

A topic of ongoing debate is whether AI should be open access, and its an issue the National Telecommunications and Information Administration will examine in 2024 as part of President Bidens executive order on AI.

Open access was also a topic that came up when Altman was a guest speaker with the class Sahami co-taught this fall with the philosopher Rob Reich and the social scientist and policy expert Jeremy Weinstein, Ethics, Technology + Public Policy for Practitioners.

Sahami asked Altman who spoke a week before the shake-up at OpenAI about some of the market pressures he experienced as CEO, as well as the pros and cons of making these models open source, a direction Altman advocated for.

A benefit of open source is a greater transparency in how a software model works. People are also able to use and expand the code, which can lead to new innovations and arguably make the field more collaborative and competitive.

However, the democratization of AI also poses a number of risks. For example, it could be used for nefarious purposes. Some fear it could aid bioterrorism and therefore needs to be kept guarded.

The question is to what works when there are guardrails in place versus the benefits you get from transparency, Sahami said.

But there are also solutions in the middle.

Models could be made available in a transparent way in escrow for researchers to evaluate, Sahami said. That way, you get some level of transparency but you dont necessarily make the whole model available to the general public.

Sahami sees the tools of democracy as a way to come to a collective decision about how to manage risks and opportunities of AI and technology: Its the best tool we have [to] take the broader opinion of the public and the different value systems that people have into that decision-making process.

Reich is the McGregor-Girand Professor of Social Ethics of Science and Technology and professor of political science in the School of Humanities and Sciences.

Weinstein is the Kleinheinz Family Professor in International Studies and professor of political science in the School of Humanities and Sciences as well as a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.

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Mehran Sahami on AI and safeguarding society - Stanford Report - Stanford University News