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How are computer advances transforming human society?
MIT students tackled that anticipated question as part of the Computing Futures Prize, an essay contest in which they were challenged to describe the ways in which computing could improve our lives, as well as the pitfalls and dangers associated with them.
Offered for the first time this year, the institute-wide competition invited MIT undergraduate and graduate students to share their ideas, aspirations and vision for what they think will be the future of computing. Nearly 60 students, including majors in mathematics, philosophy, electrical engineering and computer science, brain and cognitive sciences, chemical engineering, urban studies and planning and management, penned the paper.
Students dreamed up highly inventive scenarios of how today’s and tomorrow’s technologies could affect society, for better or worse. Several recurring themes emerged, such as addressing climate change and health issues. Others offered ideas for specific technologies that ranged from digital twins as a cutting-edge platform for navigating online information to a state-of-the-art platform equipped with artificial intelligence, machine learning, and biosensors to create personal storytelling films that help individuals understand themselves and others.
Conceived by the Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing (SERC), a joint initiative of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing in collaboration with the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS), the goal of the competition was to “create a space for students to think creatively, informedly, and rigorously about the social implications of those technologies.” about the benefits and costs that they develop or develop,” says Caspar Hare, professor of philosophy, SERC associate dean and lead organizer of the Envisioning the Future of Computing Prize. We also wanted to convey that MIT values this kind of thinking.
Prize winners
The competition involved a two-stage judging process where all essays were reviewed anonymously by a panel of college and SHASS faculty members for the initial round. At the awards ceremony on May 8, the three finalists were invited to present their work, followed by a Q&A with the judges and the live audience for the final round.
The winning entry was awarded to Robert Cunningham ’23, a recent math and physics major, for his paper on the results of a personalized language model fine-tuned to predict an individual’s handwriting based on their past texts and emails. Told from the perspective of three fictional characters: Laura, founder of tech startup ScribeAI, and Margaret and Vincent, a college couple who are frequent users of the platform, readers learn about the changes and unintended consequences that have occurred in society. technology.
Cunningham, who received the $10,000 grand prize, said he came up with the concept for his essay in late January while thinking about the upcoming release of GPT-4 and how it might be used. Created by the developers of ChatGPT—an AI chatbot that captured popular imagination for its ability to mimic human-like text, images, audio, and code—GPT-4, released in March, is the latest version of OpenAI. Language model systems.
“The GPT-4 is wild in reality, but some of the rumors were even more vague before launch and I’ve had a few long plane rides to think about them! I enjoyed this opportunity to flesh out a vague concept in writing, and since my favorite works of science fiction are short stories, I figured I’d use it to write this,” says Cunningham.
The other two finalists, each awarded $5,000, included Gabrielle Kyle-May Liu, a senior majoring in mathematics with a minor in computer science and brain and cognitive sciences. with AI; and Abigail Thwaites and Elliot Matthew Watkins, graduate students in the Department of Philosophy and Linguistics, for a joint presentation on Automated Fact Checker, an artificial intelligence-based software that they argue could potentially help dispel misinformation and be of profound social good.
“We were very excited to see the amazing response to this competition. It made it clear how much MIT students, contrary to stereotypes, actually care about the broader impacts of technology, says Daniel Jackson, a computer science professor and one of the final round judges. “Many of the essays were incredibly thoughtful and creative. Robert’s story was a harrowing but utterly compelling insight into our AI future; Abigail and Elliott’s analysis shed new light on what harm misinformation actually does; And Gabriel’s paper provided a clear overview of the emerging new technology. I hope that we will be able to hold this competition every year and that it will encourage all our students to broaden their horizons. “
Fellow judge Graeme Jones, professor of anthropology, adds, “The winning entries reflect the incredible breadth of our students’ engagement with socially responsible computing. They challenge us to think differently about how we design computing technologies, identify social impacts, and envision future scenarios. Working with the disciplinary panel of judges led to many new conversations. As a fan of science fiction, I was thrilled that the top prize went to such a stunning work of speculative fiction!”
Other judges for the final round panel included:
- Dan Huttenlocher, dean of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing;
- Alexander Madri, Cadence Design Systems Professor of Computer Science;
- Asu Ozdağlar, Deputy Academic Dean of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing and Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science;
- Georgia Perakis, SERC Associate Dean and 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 and runner-up, 12 students were awarded honorable mentions for their entries, each receiving $500.
Honorees and their essay titles include:
- Alexa Reese Canaan, Technology and Policy Program, “A New Way Forward: The Internet and the Data Economy”;
- Fernanda de la Torre Romo, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, “The Empathic Revolution Using Artificial Intelligence to Foster Greater Understanding and Connection”;
- Samuel Florin, Department of Mathematics, “Modeling International Solutions to 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-Based Electronic Health Record Transformation”;
- Cassandra Lee, Media Lab, “Considering the Anti-Comfort Funding Authority”;
- Martin Nisser, EECS, “Towards Personalized Manufacturing on Demand”;
- Andi Qu, EECS, “Revolutionizing Online Learning with Digital Twins”;
- David Bradford Ramsey, Media Lab, “The Perils and Promises of Closed-Loop Engagement”;
- Shvom Sadhuka, EECS, “Tackling false trading in genomics: privacy and collaboration”; and
- Leonard Schrage, DUSP, “Calculating Embodied Carbon.”
The Future of Computing Prize was supported by MAC3 Impact Philanthropies.
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