AI, a new focus of SUNY trainee research programs

Several State University of New York students have begun a particular type of promising research that they will continue throughout the summer and beyond: the use of artificial intelligence in various fields and how to do it ethically.

SUNY leaders and elected officials participated in roundtable discussions Monday with student researchers focused on AI across multiple sectors and ideas for how to regulate the emerging technology.

“With great risk comes great opportunity,” said Mauricio Rodriguez, a psychology student at the University at Albany. “These are the AI ​​tools that could take us to Mars. They could help us colonize other planets – something a single human could never imagine.”

Rodriguez is one of several students living on campus at UAlbany this summer to research how artificial intelligence can help people think outside the box in the workplace. But excitement about the emerging technology also comes with concerns about users’ privacy, their data and the spread of misinformation.

Students selected for the internship program receive a $4,500 stipend for eight weeks of research, in addition to covered housing and meal plans. SUNY prioritized applicants from low-income backgrounds or first-generation students for the program.

“In too many cases around the country, internships are reserved for wealthy students because they don’t get paid,” SUNY Chancellor John King said Monday. “But by investing in paid internship programs, we can ensure internships are equitably available.”

A total of 199 SUNY students are participating in internships this summer, including 49 focused on artificial intelligence. These undergraduates will spend their summer gaining a deeper understanding of AI, how it can make manufacturing more efficient and help people, while exploring how it should be regulated.

Student researchers said they have launched research projects using artificial intelligence to prevent cyberattacks, code software, detect salmonella in food or solve puzzles.

“I want to gain a deeper understanding and know how to use it for the greater good — not to help companies that already exclude people enough as it is,” said Betul Tok, a junior at the University of Albany studying computer science with a specialization in software development.

SUNY has placed a particular emphasis on AI research internship opportunities, as New York appears to be a national leader in this field.

Public and private funds totaling $400 million in the latest state budget will create the Empire AI consortium at SUNY’s four academic centers in Albany, Stonybrook, the University at Buffalo and Binghamton and other institutions. SUNY will also invest funds in capital projects to help build an AI supercomputing site at the University at Buffalo over the next two years.

SUNY has committed more than $14 million to its paid internship programs over the past two years after an increase in state aid.

“Without this funding, they may be forced to take a job that is unrelated to what they are studying. But with this funding, they are able to improve their skills and knowledge and prepare for their future careers,” King said. .

The king said Spectrum News 1 The ethical use of AI will be a focus of research, including how to ensure the reliability of information and protection against rigged images or videos, particularly in the run-up to crucial elections.

The students said they would focus on the positive use of AI, but because the tool is trained by humans, it will mimic human errors and biases, which need to be regulated.

“If bias is not properly regulated, it can create a tremendous amount of harmful information,” Tok said. “It can influence public opinion, it can influence elections, it can influence the way people view themselves, thus fueling a lot of conflict.”

State and federal lawmakers must consider how to protect user information and define bias as they become more familiar with the technology, but that research is only beginning.

“Just as the caveman wandered into the unknown in the darkness, we too must make such a leap,” Rodriguez said. “It is the unknown that can frighten us but also educate us and, ultimately, this should be the objective goal of humanity to seek absolute truth.”