INFO Professor Sheena Erete will become the Associate Director of Research at UMD’s new Artificial Intelligence Interdisciplinary Institute
ABC-7 News recently published an article regarding the launching of a new University of Maryland institute, called the Artificial Intelligence Interdisciplinary Institute. UMD President Darryll Pines spoke on the blossoming program, discussing how its objective is to give students “the tools, the skills, to really solve problems, but also be very responsible citizens. Because our goal is to use AI for the public good.”
The institute aims for all future UMD students to take an artificial intelligence course and find how AI can interact with other disciplines of interest such as art and history. Current programs are already using the technology, including a music program utilizing AI to assess and improve violinists’ techniques. While innovative at its core, artificial intelligence as a whole contains the potential for harm. There are many documented errors in AI, specifically in image processing software where it often “misreads people of color because it hasn’t been trained on that many different types of people of color.”
Ethics, equity, and responsibility when utilizing and implementing AI are pivotal in the new field of study. University of Maryland College of Information Studies (INFO) Professor Sheena Erete has been an advocate for such practices in her work and research surrounding co-designing socio-cultural technologies and community advocacy. Her expertise will continue to be highly regarded as she steps into the role as Associate Director of Research at the Artificial Intelligence Interdisciplinary Institute.
Learn more about the institute’s launch here.
Learn more about artificial technology and violin technique here.
Both articles were written by Lindsey Mastis, and published by ABC-7 on April 24 and April 25, 2024 respectively.