How will advances in computing remodel human society?
MIT college students contemplated this impending query as half of the Envisioning the Future of Computing Prize — an essay contest through which they had been challenged to think about ways in which computing applied sciences may enhance our lives, in addition to the pitfalls and risks related to them.
Offered for the first time this yr, the Institute-wide competitors invited MIT undergraduate and graduate college students to share their concepts, aspirations, and imaginative and prescient for what they assume a future propelled by developments in computing holds. Nearly 60 college students put pen to paper, together with these majoring in arithmetic, philosophy, electrical engineering and laptop science, mind and cognitive sciences, chemical engineering, city research and planning, and administration, and entered their submissions.
Students dreamed up extremely creative eventualities for the way the applied sciences of right this moment and tomorrow may affect society, for higher or worse. Some recurring themes emerged, akin to tackling points in local weather change and well being care. Others proposed concepts for specific applied sciences that ranged from digital twins as a device for navigating the deluge of info on-line to a cutting-edge platform powered by synthetic intelligence, machine studying, and biosensors to create personalised storytelling movies that assist people perceive themselves and others.
Conceived of by the Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing (SERC), a cross-cutting initiative of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing in collaboration with the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS), the intent of the competitors was “to create a space for students to think in a creative, informed, and rigorous way about the societal benefits and costs of the technologies they are or will be developing,” says Caspar Hare, professor of philosophy, co-associate dean of SERC, and the lead organizer of the Envisioning the Future of Computing Prize. “We also wanted to convey that MIT values such thinking.”
Prize winners
The contest carried out a two-stage analysis course of whereby all essays had been reviewed anonymously by a panel of MIT college members from the faculty and SHASS for the preliminary spherical. Three qualifiers had been then invited to current their entries at an awards ceremony on May 8, adopted by a Q&A with a judging panel and dwell in-person viewers for the last spherical.
The profitable entry was awarded to Robert Cunningham ’23, a latest graduate in math and physics, for his paper on the implications of a personalised language mannequin that’s fine-tuned to foretell a person’s writing based mostly on their previous texts and emails. Told from the perspective of three fictional characters: Laura, founder of the tech startup ScribeAI, and Margaret and Vincent, a pair in faculty who’re frequent customers of the platform, readers gained insights into the societal shifts that happen and the unexpected repercussions of the know-how.
Cunningham, who took house the grand prize of $10,000, says he got here up with the idea for his essay in late January whereas occupied with the upcoming launch of GPT-4 and the way it may be utilized. Created by the builders of ChatGPT — an AI chatbot that has managed to seize common creativeness for its capability to mimic human-like textual content, photographs, audio, and code — GPT-4, which was unveiled in March, is the latest model of OpenAI’s language mannequin programs.
“GPT-4 is wild in reality, but some rumors before it launched were even wilder, and I had a few long plane rides to think about them! I enjoyed this opportunity to solidify a vague notion into a piece of writing, and since some of my favorite works of science fiction are short stories, I figured I’d take the chance to write one,” Cunningham says.
The different two finalists, awarded $5,000 every, included Gabrielle Kaili-May Liu, a senior majoring in arithmetic with laptop science, and mind and cognitive sciences, for her entry on utilizing the reinforcement studying with human suggestions method as a device for remodeling human interactions with AI; and Abigail Thwaites and Eliot Matthew Watkins, graduate college students in the Department of Philosophy and Linguistics, for his or her joint submission on computerized truth checkers, an AI-driven software program that they argue may doubtlessly assist mitigate the unfold of misinformation and be a profound social good.
“We were so excited to see the amazing response to this contest. It made clear how much students at MIT, contrary to stereotype, really care about the wider implications of technology, says Daniel Jackson, professor of computer science and one of the final-round judges. “So many of the essays were incredibly thoughtful and creative. Robert’s story was a chilling, but entirely plausible take on our AI future; Abigail and Eliot’s analysis brought new clarity to what harms misinformation actually causes; and Gabrielle’s piece gave a lucid overview of a prominent new technology. I hope we’ll be able to run this contest every year, and that it will encourage all our students to broaden their perspectives even further.”
Fellow choose Graham Jones, professor of anthropology, provides: “The winning entries reflected the incredible breadth of our students’ engagement with socially responsible computing. They challenge us to think differently about how to design computational technologies, conceptualize social impacts, and imagine future scenarios. Working with a cross-disciplinary panel of judges catalyzed lots of new conversations. As a sci-fi fan, I was thrilled that the top prize went to a such a stunning piece of speculative fiction!”
Other judges on the panel for the last spherical included:
- Dan Huttenlocher, dean of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing;
- Aleksander Madry, Cadence Design Systems Professor of Computer Science;
- Asu Ozdaglar, deputy dean of teachers for the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing and head of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science;
- Georgia Perakis, co-associate dean of SERC and the William F. Pounds Professor of Management; and
- Agustin Rayo, dean of the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences.
Honorable mentions
In addition to the grand prize winner and runners up, 12 college students had been acknowledged with honorable mentions for his or her entries, with every receiving $500.
The honorees and the title of their essays embrace:
- Alexa Reese Canaan, Technology and Policy Program, “A New Way Forward: The Internet & Data Economy”;
- Fernanda De La Torre Romo, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, “The Empathic Revolution Using AI to Foster Greater Understanding and Connection”;
- Samuel Florin, Department of Mathematics, “Modeling International Solutions for the Climate Crisis”;
- Claire Gorman, Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP), “Grounding AI — Envisioning Inclusive Computing for Soil Carbon Applications”;
- Kevin Hansom, MIT Sloan School of Management, “Quantum Powered Personalized Pharmacogenetic Development and Distribution Model”;
- Sharon Jiang, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), “Machine Learning Driven Transformation of Electronic Health Records”;
- Cassandra Lee, Media Lab, “Considering an Anti-convenience Funding Body”;
- Martin Nisser, EECS, “Towards Personalized On-Demand Manufacturing”;
- Andi Qu, EECS, “Revolutionizing Online Learning with Digital Twins”;
- David Bradford Ramsay, Media Lab, “The Perils and Promises of Closed Loop Engagement”;
- Shuvom Sadhuka, EECS, “Overcoming the False Trade-off in Genomics: Privacy and Collaboration”; and
- Leonard Schrage, DUSP, “Embodied-Carbon-Computing.”
The Envisioning the Future of Computing Prize was supported by MAC3 Impact Philanthropies.