Faculty members from various disciplines at Memorial and a leading expert from the University of Notre Dame are coming together for a one-day eSymposium on artificial intelligence (AI).

AI refers to computer systems that collect, interpret and learn from external data to achieve specific goals and tasks.

AI is having an increasingly significant impact on society, health care and the labour force.

Questions have been raised about the ethics and social implications of AI in a growing number of areas.

Knowledge, understanding and applications

Dr. Greg Naterer, dean, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, along with Dr. Travis Fridgen, acting dean, Faculty of Science; Dr. Jennifer Simpson, dean, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; Dr. Isabelle Dostaler, dean, Faculty of Business Administration; and Dr. Ian Sutherland, dean, School of Music, have been instrumental in organizing the eSymposium, taking place on Friday, Oct. 2.

“Across Memorial University there is a shared interest and desire to connect and advance the work on AI and machine learning,” said Dr. Naterer. “With this eSymposium, we hope to form a community of interested faculty members from across disciplines who are working on AI-related fields.”

The event aims to increase the knowledge, understanding and applications of AI at Memorial; raise the profile, visibility and impacts of AI work being done at Memorial; and build interdisciplinary collaborations in technical and non-technical research in AI – from  pure research to applied project and social and health impacts.”

Numerous topics

The eSymposium will highlight the multidisciplinary collaborations among researchers and leverage this expertise to apply AI tools to new areas. It aims to make Memorial a growing hub of activity for networking in emerging areas of AI.

Themes of the eSymposium will include the history and past development of AI; current progress in AI; and future directions of AI, such as research, opportunities and threats.

Dr. Ahmed Abbasi, University of Notre Dame, will present. Nine panelists will cover topics such as algorithms; robotics; social and ethical implications; fisheries and aquaculture; business processes; health care; education; multidisciplinary applications; and earth science.

For further information, please contact Dr. Naterer.

To attend the session on Oct. 2, please visit here.