artificial intelligence (AI)

Georgia Tech Team Takes Second Place at ICRA Robot Teleoperation Contest

dgivens8 — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 12:58:25 +0000

Georgia Tech Team Takes Second Place at ICRA Robot Teleoperation Contest dgivens8 Tue, 07/29/2025 - 08:58

An algorithmic breakthrough from School of Interactive Computing researchers that earned a Meta partnershipdrew more attention at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA).

Meta announced in February its partnership with the labs of professors Danfei Xu and Judy Hoffman on a novel computer vision-based algorithm called EgoMimic. It enables robots to learn new skills by imitating human tasks from first-person video footage captured by Meta’s Aria smart glasses.

Xu’s Robot Learning and Reasoning Lab (RL2) displayed EgoMimic in action at ICRA May 19-23 at the World Congress Center in Atlanta.

Lawrence Zhu, Pranav Kuppili, and Patcharapong “Elmo” Aphiwetsa — students from Xu’s lab — used Egomimic to compete in a robot teleoperation contest at ICRA. The team finished second in the event titled What Bimanual Teleoperation and Learning from Demonstration Can Do Today, earning a $10,000 cash prize.

Teams were challenged to perform tasks by remotely controlling a robot gripper. The robot had to fold a tablecloth, open a vacuum-sealed container, place an object into the container, and then reseal it in succession without any errors.

Teams completed the tasks as many times as possible in 30 minutes, earning points for each successful attempt.

The competition also offered different challenge levels that increased the points awarded. Teams could directly operate the robot with a full workstation view and receive one point for each task completion. Or, as the RL2 team chose, teams could opt for the second challenge level.

The second level required an operator to control the task with no view of the workstation except for what was provided to through a video feed. The RL2 team completed the task seven times and received double points for the challenge level.

The third challenge level required teams to operate remotely from another location. At this level, teams could earn four times the number of points for each successful task completed. The fourth level challenged teams to deploy an algorithm for task performance and awarded eight points for each completion.

Using two of Meta’s Quest wireless controllers, Zhu controlled the robot under the direction of Aphiwetsa, while Kuppili monitored the coding from his laptop.

“It’s physically difficult to teleoperate for half an hour,” Zhu said. “My hands were shaking from holding the controllers in the air for that long.”

Being in constant communication with Aphiwetsa helped him stay focused throughout the contest.

“I helped him strategize the teleoperation and noticed he could skip some of the steps in the folding,” Aphiwetsa said. “There were many ways to do it, so I just told him what he could fix and how to do it faster.”

Zhu said he and his team had intended to tackle the fourth challenge level with the EgoMimic algorithm. However, due to unexpected time constraints, they decided to switch to the second level the day before the competition due to unexpected time constraints.

“I think we realized the day before the competition training the robot on our model would take a huge amount of time,” Zhu said. “We decided to go for the teleoperation and started practicing.”

He said the team wants to tackle the highest challenge level and use a training model for next year’s ICRA competition in Vienna, Austria.

ICRA is the world’s largest robotics conference, and Atlanta hosted the event for the third time in its history, drawing a record-breaking attendance of over 7,000.

Subtitle

Summary sentence

A Georgia Tech team earned second place in the ICRA Robot Teleoperation Contest for their EgoMimic algorithm, which allows robots to learn skills by mimicking human tasks from first-person video.

Summary

Students from Georgia Tech's Robot Learning and Reasoning Lab earned second place and a $10,000 cash prize in a robot teleoperation contest at the 2025 International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Atlanta. The RL2 lab announced a partnership with Meta in February on a novel computer vision-based algorithm called EgoMimic. It enables robots to learn new skills by imitating human tasks from first-person video footage captured by Meta’s Aria smart glasses.

Dateline

Wed, 06/11/2025 - 12:00

Associated importer

Keywords

cc-research; ic-ai-ml; ic-robotics

artificial intelligence (AI)

go-ai

go-researchnews

Research Horizons

student competition

Categories

Computer Science/Information Technology and Security

Robotics

Student Competition WInners (academic, innovation, and research)

Mercury ID

682761

Source updated

Thu, 06/12/2025 - 07:52

OMSCS Team Takes Entrepreneurial Tack to Win $10,000 in Microsoft Azure Challenge

dgivens8 — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 12:57:41 +0000

OMSCS Team Takes Entrepreneurial Tack to Win $10,000 in Microsoft Azure Challenge dgivens8 Tue, 07/29/2025 - 08:57

A team of Georgia Tech graduate students is using artificial intelligence (AI) to help people with disabilities find their dream jobs.

Searching for the right job is stressful for most, but it can be overwhelming for people with disabilities. However, using an innovative approach, the student entrepreneurs created a customizable AI-powered "job coach" that connects people with accessible employment opportunities.

OMSCS students George Gomez, Ariel Magyar, Zachary Patrignani, and Maheer Sayeed created Interstellar Jobs as their entry for the March 2025 Microsoft Azure Innovation Challenge. The team beat over 70 international entries to secure first place and $10,000.

Interstellar Jobs uses information about job seekers' disabilities, job preferences, and other personal details to provide detailed coaching tips for specific jobs. The tips let job seekers know if they're a good fit for the position, what challenges they can expect, and what they can do to manage these challenges successfully.

The challenge, co-sponsored by TechBridge, required teams to create a functional proof of concept within a tight timeframe using AI, analytics, networking, and other Microsoft Azure Web Services.

Selecting which services to use was the starting point for most teams. In fact, Sayeed says most of the competition tried to use as many Azure services as possible for their projects.

"We didn't do that. We kept it simple," said Sayeed.

"Our mindset going into the challenge was that we'd find the problem first, and then we would look at the services we would use."

Their entrepreneurial approach led the team to develop Interstellar Jobs using just three Azure services. As an example of their approach, the team faced the challenge of addressing specific disabilities in relation to thousands of job listings.

Developers usually depend on drop-down menus when presenting an extensive list of options. However, this method might not cover all disabilities or could use outdated or overly broad language. It also wouldn't account for people with multiple or nuanced disabilities that don't fit neatly into a single category.

The Interstellar Jobs team opted for a blank field for users to list their disabilities.

"We kept it very open-ended for our users," said Sayeed.

The team used OpenAI Service to 'clean' entries on the backend, regardless of what users wrote in the blank field. This method ensures that users can always get a structured and actionable response from Interstellar Jobs.

"As a user, not having to pick from a drop-down menu just feels good," said Matt Calder, senior product marketing manager at Microsoft.

Calder hosts Microsoft DevRadio and recently interviewed the Interstellar Jobs team. "I like how your approach changes how people interact with the whole system. If you make something really usable, it's going to be accessible as well," said Calder.

Despite its success, the team has no immediate plans to expand Interstellar Jobs. Each member balances a full-time job and their studies in Georgia Tech's Online Master of Science in Computer Science (OMSCS) program.

"We gained so much about cloud development and Azure Web Services from the experience," said Sayeed. "We also learned the value of AI in these applications."

Subtitle

Summary sentence

A student team has "learned the value of AI" by creating a job coaching app for people with disabilities.

Summary

A team of OMSCS students took an entrepreneurial approach to develop an AI-powered app that coaches people with disabilities during their job search. The app, Interstellar Jobs, earned the team first place and $10,000 in a recent Microsoft Azure Web Services challenge.

Dateline

Fri, 06/27/2025 - 12:00

Contact

Ben Snedeker, Communications Manager II

Georgia Tech College of Computing

Associated importer

Keywords

Daily Digest

Georgia Tech News Center

artificial intelligence

artificial intelligence (AI)

Categories

Artificial Intelligence

Student Competition WInners (academic, innovation, and research)

Mercury ID

682917

Source updated

Fri, 06/27/2025 - 09:21

Teaching AI to Collaborate, not Merely Create, Through Dance

dgivens8 — Fri, 30 May 2025 18:14:41 +0000

Teaching AI to Collaborate, not Merely Create, Through Dance dgivens8 Fri, 05/30/2025 - 14:14

Two children are playing with a set of toys, each playing alone. That kind of play involves a somewhat limited set of interactions between the child and the toy. But what happens when the two children play together using the same toys?

“The actions are similar, but the choices and outcomes are very different because of the dynamic changes they’re making with the other person,” says Brian Magerko, Regents’ Professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Literature, Media, and Communication. “It’s a thing that humans do all the time, and computers don’t do with us at all.”

Welcome to the next frontier of artificial intelligence (AI) — not just generating but collaborating in real-time.

Magerko and his colleagues, Georgia Tech research scientist Milka Trajkova and Kennesaw State University Associate Professor of Dance Andrea Knowlton, are putting a collaborative AI system they’ve developed to the ultimate test: the world’s first collaborative AI dance performance.

Dance Partner

LuminAI is an interactive system that allows participants to engage in collaborative movement improvisation with an AI virtual dance partner projected on a nearby screen or wall. LuminAI analyzes participant movements and improvises responses informed by memories of past interactions with people. In other words, LuminAI learns how to dance by dancing with us.

The National Science Foundation-supported project began about 12 years ago in a lab and became an art installation and public demo. LuminAI has since moved into a different phase as a creative collaborator and education tool in a dance studio.

“We’re looking at the role LuminAI can play in dance education. As far as we’re aware, this is the first implemented version of an AI dancer in a dance studio,” says Trajkova, who was a professional ballet dancer before becoming a research scientist on the project.

To prepare LuminAI to collaborate with dancers, the research team started by studying pairs of improvisational dancers.

“We’re trying to understand how non-verbal, collaborative creativity occurs,” Knowlton says. “We start by trying to understand influencing factors that are perceived as contributing to improvisational success between two artists. Through that understanding, we applied those criteria to an AI system so it can have a similar experience with co-creative success.”

“We’re working on a creative arc,” adds Trajkova. “So instead of the AI agent just generating movements in response to the last thing that happened, we’re working to track and understand the dynamics of creative ideas across time as a continuous flow, rather than isolated instances of reaction.”

Students from Knowlton’s improvisational dance class at Kennesaw State spent two months of their spring semester working routinely with the LuminAI dancer and recording their impressions and experiences. One of the purposes the team discovered is that LuminAI serves as a third view for dancers and allows them to try ideas out with the system before trying it out with a partner.

The classroom experiment will culminate in a public performance on May 3 at Kennesaw State’s Marietta Dance Theater featuring the students performing with the LuminAI dancer. As far as the research team is aware the event is the world’s first collaborative AI dance performance.

While not all the dancers embraced having an AI collaborator, some of those who were skeptical at first left the experience more open to the possibility of collaborating with AI, Knowlton says. Regardless of their feelings toward working with AI, Knowlton says she believes the dancers gained valuable skills in working with specialized technology, especially as dance performances evolve to include more interactive media.

Refined Movement

So, what’s next for LuminAI? The project represents at least two possible paths for its learnings. The first includes continued exploration about how AI systems can be taught to cooperate and collaborate more like humans.

“With the advent of generative AI these past few years, it’s been really clear how great a need there is for this sort of social cognition,” says Magerko. “One of the things we’re going to be getting off the ground is sense-making with large language models. How do you collaborate with an AI system – rather than just making text or images, they’ll be able to make with us.”

The second involves the body movements LuminAI has been cataloging and analyzing over the years. Dance exemplifies highly refined motor skills, often exhibiting a level of detail surpassing that found in various athletic disciplines or physical therapy. While the tools designed to capture these intricate movements—through cameras and AI—are still nascent, the potential for harnessing this granular data is significant, Trajkova says.

That exploration begins on May 30 with a two-day summit being held at Georgia Tech to discuss its application for transforming performance athletics, with interdisciplinary participants in dance, computer vision, biomechanics, psychology, and human-computer interaction from Georgia Tech, Emory, KSU, Harvard, Royal Ballet in London, and Australian Ballet.

“It’s about understanding AI's role in augmenting training, promoting wellness as well as diving deep in decoding the artistry of human movements. How can we extract insights about the quality of athlete’s movements so we can help develop and enhance their own unique nuances?” Trajkova says.

Summary sentence

Georgia Tech and KSU faculty are putting a collaborative AI system they’ve developed to the ultimate test: the world’s first collaborative AI dance performance.

Summary

Georgia Tech and KSU faculty are putting a collaborative AI system they’ve developed to the ultimate test: the world’s first collaborative AI dance performance.

Dateline

Thu, 05/02/2024 - 12:00

Contact

Megan McRainey
megan.mcrainey@gatech.edu

Associated importer

Keywords

artificial intelligence (AI)

go-ai

go-neuro

Categories

Art Research

Digital Media and Entertainment

Georgia Tech Arts

Mercury ID

674495

Source updated

Fri, 05/10/2024 - 14:03

Computing Framework Could Reveal Signs of Neuro Disorders Hidden within Brain Data

admin — Mon, 05 May 2025 13:58:41 +0000

Computing Framework Could Reveal Signs of Neuro Disorders Hidden within Brain Data admin Mon, 05/05/2025 - 09:58

A Georgia Tech doctoral student’s dissertation could help physicians diagnose neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, autism, and Alzheimer’s disease. The new approach leverages data science and algorithms instead of relying on traditional methods like cognitive tests and image scans.

Ph.D. candidate Md Abdur Rahaman’s dissertation studies brain data to understand how changes in brain activity shape behavior.

Computational tools Rahaman developed for his dissertation look for informative patterns between the brain and behavior. Successful tests of his algorithms show promise to help doctors diagnose mental health disorders and design individualized treatment plans for patients.

“I've always been fascinated by the human brain and how it defines who we are,” Rahaman said.

“The fact that so many people silently suffer from neuropsychiatric disorders, while our understanding of the brain remains limited, inspired me to develop tools that bring greater clarity to this complexity and offer hope through more compassionate, data-driven care.”

Rahaman’s dissertation introduces a framework focusing on granular factoring. This computing technique stratifies brain data into smaller, localized subgroups, making it easier for computers and researchers to study data and find meaningful patterns.

Granular factoring overcomes the challenges of size and heterogeneity in neurological data science. Brain data is obtained from neuroimaging, genomics, behavioral datasets, and other sources. The large size of each source makes it a challenge to study them individually, let alone analyze them simultaneously, to find hidden inferences.

Rahaman’s research allows researchers and physicians to move past one-size-fits-all approaches. Instead of manually reviewing tests and scans, algorithms look for patterns and biomarkers in the subgroups that otherwise go undetected, especially ones that indicate neuropsychiatric disorders.

“My dissertation advances the frontiers of computational neuroscience by introducing scalable and interpretable models that navigate brain heterogeneity to reveal how neural dynamics shape behavior,” Rahaman said.

“By uncovering subgroup-specific patterns, this work opens new directions for understanding brain function and enables more precise, personalized approaches to mental health care.”

Rahaman defended his dissertation on April 14, the final step in completing his Ph.D. in computational science and engineering. He will graduate on May 1 at Georgia Tech’s Ph.D. Commencement.

After walking across the stage at McCamish Pavilion, Rahaman’s next step in his career is to go to Amazon, where he will work in the generative artificial intelligence (AI) field.

Graduating from Georgia Tech is the summit of an educational trek spanning over a decade. Rahaman hails from Bangladesh where he graduated from Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology in 2013. He attained his master’s from the University of New Mexico in 2019 before starting at Georgia Tech.

“Munna is an amazingly creative researcher,” said Vince Calhoun, Rahman’s advisor. Calhoun is the founding director of the Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science Center (TReNDS).

TReNDS is a tri-institutional center spanning Georgia Tech, Georgia State University, and Emory University that develops analytic approaches and neuroinformatic tools. The center aims to translate the approaches into biomarkers that address areas of brain health and disease.

“His work is moving the needle in our ability to leverage multiple sources of complex biological data to improve understanding of neuropsychiatric disorders that have a huge impact on an individual’s livelihood,” said Calhoun.

Summary sentence

A Georgia Tech doctoral student’s dissertation could help physicians diagnose neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, autism, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Summary

Ph.D. candidate Md Abdur Rahaman’s dissertation studies brain data to understand how changes in brain activity shape behavior.

Dateline

Thu, 04/24/2025 - 12:00

Contact

Bryant Wine, Communications Officer
bryant.wine@cc.gatech.edu

Keywords

College of Computing

School of Computational Science and Engineering

Research Horizons

go-researchnews

artificial intelligence (AI)

go-ai

Daily Digest

Georgia Tech News Center

News room topics

Health and Medicine

Categories

Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics

Computer Science/Information Technology and Security

Life Sciences and Biology

Research

Student Research

Mercury ID

682026

Source updated

Mon, 05/05/2025 - 09:58

Professor's CNBC Course Highlights College’s Leadership in Expanding AI Literacy

admin — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 14:39:41 +0000

Professor's CNBC Course Highlights College’s Leadership in Expanding AI Literacy admin Fri, 04/25/2025 - 10:39

If you’re worried about artificial intelligence (AI) taking your job, Georgia Tech’s Mark Riedl says that probably won’t happen. However, losing your job to someone who knows how to leverage AI tools in the workplace is something to be concerned about.

To help people beyond campus understand what AI tools are available and how to use them effectively, Riedl recently co-taught an online course by CNBC Make It titled How to Use AI to Be More Successful at Work.

“The running joke right now is that AI will not replace people, but people who use AI will replace people who do not use AI,” said Riedl, professor in the School of Interactive Computing.

The 90-minute course offers tips and hacks to users who are:

Inexperienced in using AI tools in the workplace and are looking to grow in professional development
Small business owners who are overwhelmed with administrative tasks, marketing, industry research, and data analysis
Job seekers looking to stand out from the crowd
People seeking to improve their work-life balance

Riedl, whose research focuses on human-centered and explainable AI, taught sections of the course on the foundation of AI. One of the biggest sections of the course covers large-language models (LLMs).

“When large language models were put forward as chatbots, this was the first time that any person out in the world could naturally interact with an AI system without having to learn to program or write code,” Riedl said.

For less than $100, the on-demand course includes a detailed workbook that helps users consider each aspect of their jobs and daily lives and how AI can improve them.

The Big Picture

CNBC’s use of Riedl’s expertise is one of many examples of how College of Computing faculty are leading the way in teaching AI literacy.

David Joyner, executive director of online education, said Georgia Tech’s Online Master of Science in Computer Science (OMSCS) program continues to innovate with AI literacy in mind.

He said companies and employees alike are learning to navigate AI. Companies are considering AI from a general perspective, focusing on how it can make their businesses more efficient, while employees are using it to become more versatile and valuable workers.

“It’s an interesting dichotomy,” Joyner said. “If companies are trying to figure out how to operate more efficiently, and you have people using these tools to be more productive, at what point does the company need to prioritize using these tools instead of letting their use be organic? We’re still in this experimental phase.”

In a conversation with former College of Computing interim dean Alex Orso, Joyner discusses how OMSCS is staying at the forefront in equipping students with the latest technology skills they need to be successful in a fluctuating industry.

“We must figure out what generative AI can do well and properly leverage it so we’re not cutting out the foundation of a building and replacing it with sticks,” Joyner said.

The complete conversation between Joyner and Orso is available on the College's Youtube channel.

Summary sentence

Georgia Tech Professor Mark Riedl is helping people learn new skills to stay competitive in the workplace.

Summary

Georgia Tech Professor Mark Riedl is helping people learn new workplace skills to stay competitive.

Dateline

Thu, 04/24/2025 - 12:00

Contact

Nathan Deen, Communications Officer

Georgia Tech School of Interactive Computing

nathan.deen@cc.gatech.edu

Associated importer

Keywords

Daily Digest

artificial intelligence

artificial intelligence (AI)

Georgia Tech News Center

go-researchnews

News room topics

Science and Technology

Categories

Institute Leadership

Mercury ID

682001

Source updated

Fri, 04/25/2025 - 10:38

Over the Rainbow and Into 15K: Alumni Help Bring Oz to Life at the Las Vegas Sphere

admin — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 14:39:41 +0000

Over the Rainbow and Into 15K: Alumni Help Bring Oz to Life at the Las Vegas Sphere admin Fri, 04/25/2025 - 10:39

For anyone who has only seen the movie on television, The Wizard of Oz is an incredible movie theater experience. Its larger-than-life characters, vivid colors, and memorable soundtrack were made for the big screen.

Now, a Georgia Tech professor and several alumni are helping bring the 1939 classic Hollywood film to what will likely be its largest screen ever: the Las Vegas Sphere's 160,000-square-foot interior screen.

Summary sentence

Debuting in August, "The Wizard of Oz at Sphere' has a solid connection to Georgia Tech's AI community.

Summary

Debuting in August, "The Wizard of Oz at Sphere' has a solid connection to Georgia Tech's AI community. A Georgia Tech professor and several alumni are helping bring the 1939 classic Hollywood film to what will likely be its largest screen ever: the Las Vegas Sphere's 160,000-square-foot interior screen.

Dateline

Tue, 04/22/2025 - 12:00

Contact

Ben Snedeker

Communications Manager

Georgia Tech College of Computing

albert.snedeker@cc.gatech.edu

Associated importer

Keywords

alumni

Alumni Association

Daily Digest

Georgia Tech News Center

artificial intelligence (AI)

go-researchnews

generative AI

News room topics

Society and Culture

Categories

Alumni

Mercury ID

681971

Source updated

Fri, 04/25/2025 - 10:39

Thesis on Human-Centered AI Earns Honors from International Computing Organization

dgivens8 — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 14:30:41 +0000

Thesis on Human-Centered AI Earns Honors from International Computing Organization dgivens8 Tue, 04/22/2025 - 10:30

A Georgia Tech alum’s dissertation introduced ways to make artificial intelligence (AI) more accessible, interpretable, and accountable. Although it’s been a year since his doctoral defense, Zijie (Jay) Wang’s (Ph.D. ML-CSE 2024) work continues to resonate with researchers.

Wang is a recipient of the 2025 Outstanding Dissertation Award from the Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (ACM SIGCHI). The award recognizes Wang for his lifelong work on democratizing human-centered AI.

“Throughout my Ph.D. and industry internships, I observed a gap in existing research: there is a strong need for practical tools for applying human-centered approaches when designing AI systems,” said Wang, now a safety researcher at OpenAI.

“My work not only helps people understand AI and guide its behavior but also provides user-friendly tools that fit into existing workflows.”

Wang’s dissertation presented techniques in visual explanation and interactive guidance to align AI models with user knowledge and values. The work culminated from years of research, fellowship support, and internships.

Wang’s most influential projects formed the core of his dissertation. These included:

CNN Explainer: an open-source tool developed for deep-learning beginners. Since its release in July 2020, more than 436,000 global visitors have used the tool.
DiffusionDB: a first-of-its-kind large-scale dataset that lays a foundation to help people better understand generative AI. This work could lead to new research in detecting deepfakes and designing human-AI interaction tools to help people more easily use these models.
GAM Changer: an interface that empowers users in healthcare, finance, or other domains to edit ML models to include knowledge and values specific to their domain, which improves reliability.
GAM Coach: an interactive ML tool that could help people who have been rejected for a loan by automatically letting an applicant know what is needed for them to receive loan approval.
Farsight: a tool that alerts developers when they write prompts in large language models that could be harmful and misused.

“I feel extremely honored and lucky to receive this award, and I am deeply grateful to many who have supported me along the way, including Polo, mentors, collaborators, and friends,” said Wang, who was advised by School of Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) Professor Polo Chau.

“This recognition also inspired me to continue striving to design and develop easy-to-use tools that help everyone to easily interact with AI systems.”

Like Wang, Chau advised Georgia Tech alumnus Fred Hohman (Ph.D. CSE 2020). Hohman won the ACM SIGCHI Outstanding Dissertation Award in 2022.

Chau’s group synthesizes machine learning (ML) and visualization techniques into scalable, interactive, and trustworthy tools. These tools increase understanding and interaction with large-scale data and ML models.

Chau is the associate director of corporate relations for the Machine Learning Center at Georgia Tech. Wang called the School of CSE his home unit while a student in the ML program under Chau.

Wang is one of five recipients of this year’s award to be presented at the 2025 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2025). The conference occurs April 25-May 1 in Yokohama, Japan.

SIGCHI is the world’s largest association of human-computer interaction professionals and practitioners. The group sponsors or co-sponsors 26 conferences, including CHI.

Wang’s outstanding dissertation award is the latest recognition of a career decorated with achievement.

Months after graduating from Georgia Tech, Forbes named Wang to its 30 Under 30 in Science for 2025 for his dissertation. Wang was one of 15 Yellow Jackets included in nine different 30 Under 30 lists and the only Georgia Tech-affiliated individual on the 30 Under 30 in Science list.

While a Georgia Tech student, Wang earned recognition from big names in business and technology. He received the Apple Scholars in AI/ML Ph.D. Fellowship in 2023 and was in the 2022 cohort of the J.P. Morgan AI Ph.D. Fellowships Program.

Along with the CHI award, Wang’s dissertation earned him awards this year at banquets across campus. The Georgia Tech chapter of Sigma Xi presented Wang with the Best Ph.D. Thesis Award. He also received the College of Computing’s Outstanding Dissertation Award.

“Georgia Tech attracts many great minds, and I’m glad that some, like Jay, chose to join our group,” Chau said. “It has been a joy to work alongside them and witness the many wonderful things they have accomplished, and with many more to come in their careers.”

Summary sentence

Zijie (Jay) Wang (Ph.D. ML-CSE 2024) is a recipient of the 2025 Outstanding Dissertation Award from the Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (ACM SIGCHI).

Summary

Dateline

Thu, 04/17/2025 - 12:00

Contact

Bryant Wine, Communications Officer
bryant.wine@cc.gatech.edu

Keywords

College of Computing

School of Computational Science and Engineering

artificial intelligence (AI)

Georgia Tech News Center

Daily Digest

Research Horizons

go-researchnews

go-ai

Categories

Computer Science/Information Technology and Security

Congressional Testimony

Digital Media and Entertainment

Economic Development and Policy

Education

Energy

Engineering

Environment

Exhibitions

Georgia Tech Arts

Industrial Design

Institute and Campus

Institute Leadership

International Education

Life Sciences and Biology

Military Technology

Music and Music Technology

Nanotechnology and Nanoscience

Performances

Physics and Physical Sciences

Policy, Social Sciences, and Liberal Arts

Research

Robotics

Special Events and Guest Speakers

Student Honors and Achievements

Student Research

Mercury ID

681961

Source updated

Tue, 04/22/2025 - 10:29

Faculty, Students Pilot AI Crisis Simulation

admin — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 18:04:50 +0000

Faculty, Students Pilot AI Crisis Simulation admin Thu, 04/17/2025 - 14:04

Researchers from Georgia Tech and the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) recently piloted an in-depth crisis simulation exploring the national security implications of advanced artificial intelligence. Designed by the AI Safety Initiative in collaboration with Model UN at Georgia Tech, the immersive half-day workshop challenged faculty to respond to a series of escalating threats — including a potential biological attack, cyberattacks, and rising global tensions.

Participants represented major governments, corporations, and organizations — including OpenAI and Google DeepMind — and were inundated with simulated press releases and intelligence reports describing the rapid evolution of AI technologies. Their task: to debate and coordinate policy responses in real time.

In one scenario, a preliminary World Health Organization report revealed AI-enabled pathogens spreading across Central Asia. The player representing China quickly moved to close borders and reimpose pandemic-era lockdowns, a move that caused global confusion and economic instability.

“There’s just no way I could have predicted that response,” said Parv Mahajan, the director of the simulation. “But that kind of extreme response tells us so much about how unprepared countries might react.”

Divjot Kaur, who constructed the simulated documents participants received throughout the workshop, agreed. “This valuable information can shed light on the research and work we must put in,” she said.

Some players took advantage of the chaos. The simulation concluded with a discussion about how profit motives might distort information access and accelerate a potential AI arms race.

What stood out most to participants was the range of ideas that emerged during the crisis. “It was great to see the perspectives of diverse disciplines on the future of AI,” said Amaar Alidina, an undergraduate researcher. “Debate provided meaningful insight on topics we wouldn't even have thought of,” Kaur said.

Looking ahead, the AI Safety Initiative hopes to expand the simulation through collaborations with labs and departments across campus.

“The future of our work will depend, in some way or another, on AI," said Mahajan. "And the best way to understand the future is to try and experience it.”

Summary sentence

Researchers explore national security risks posed by advanced AI through a high-stakes strategic exercise.

Summary

In a simulation from Georgia Tech and GTRI, participants navigated escalating global crises — including AI-enabled biothreats and cyberattacks — to assess how different actors might respond to emerging AI risks.

Dateline

Mon, 04/07/2025 - 12:00

Contact

AI Safety Initiative
board@aisi.dev

Georgia Tech Model UN
gatechmun@gmail.com

Associated importer

Keywords

AI Safety

artificial intelligence (AI)

Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts; school of public policy

News room topics

Campus and Community

Categories

Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics

Computer Science/Information Technology and Security

Economic Development and Policy

Military Technology

Policy, Social Sciences, and Liberal Arts

Research

Student and Faculty

Mercury ID

681671

Source updated

Thu, 04/17/2025 - 14:04

Securing Tomorrow’s Autonomous Robots Today

admin — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 01:18:41 +0000

Securing Tomorrow’s Autonomous Robots Today admin Tue, 03/25/2025 - 21:18

Every year, people in California risk their lives battling wildfires, but in the future, machines powered by artificial intelligence will be on the front lines, not firefighters.

However, this new generation of self-thinking robots will need security protocols to ensure they aren’t susceptible to hackers. To integrate such robots into society, they must come with assurances that they will behave safely around humans.

It begs the question: can you guarantee the safety of something that doesn’t exist yet? It’s something Assistant Professor Glen Chou hopes to accomplish by developing algorithms that will enable autonomous systems to learn and adapt while acting with safety and security assurances.

He plans to launch research initiatives, in collaboration with the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy and the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering, to secure this new technological frontier as it develops.

“To operate in uncertain real-world environments, robots and other autonomous systems need to leverage and adapt a complex network of perception and control algorithms to turn sensor data into actions,” he said. “To obtain realistic assurances, we must do a joint safety and security analysis on these sensors and algorithms simultaneously, rather than one at a time.”

This end-to-end method would proactively look for flaws in the robot’s systems rather than wait for them to be exploited. This would lead to intrinsically robust robotic systems that can recover from failures.

Chou said this research will be helpful in other domains, including advanced space exploration. If a space rover is sent to one of Saturn’s moons, for example, it needs to be able to act and think independently of scientists on Earth.

Aside from fighting fires and exploring space, this technology could perform maintenance in nuclear reactors, automatically maintain the power grid, and make autonomous surgery safer. It could also bring assistive robots into the home, enabling higher standards of care.

This is a challenging domain where safety, security, and privacy concerns are paramount due to frequent, close contact with humans.

This will start in the newly established Trustworthy Robotics Lab at Georgia Tech, which Chou directs. He and his Ph.D. students will design principled algorithms that enable general-purpose robots and autonomous systems to operate capably, safely, and securely with humans while remaining resilient to real-world failures and uncertainty.

Chou earned dual bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering and computer sciences as well as mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2017, a master’s and Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Michigan in 2019 and 2022, respectively.

He was a postdoc at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory before joining Georgia Tech in November 2024. He received the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate fellowship program, NSF Graduate Research fellowships, and was named a Robotics: Science and Systems Pioneer in 2022.

Summary sentence

The Trustworthy Robotics Lab enables robots and autonomous systems to operate safely with humans while remaining resilient to real-world challenges.

Summary

The Trustworthy Robotics Lab is a new interdisciplinary venture led by School of Cybersecurity & Privacy Assistant Professor Glen Chou. The lab's mission is to enable robots and autonomous systems to operate safely with humans while remaining resilient to real-world challenges.

Dateline

Tue, 03/04/2025 - 12:00

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School of Cybersecurity & Privacy

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Tue, 03/25/2025 - 21:18

AI’s Energy Demands Spark Nuclear Revival

admin — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 18:03:41 +0000

AI’s Energy Demands Spark Nuclear Revival admin Fri, 01/10/2025 - 13:03

The demand for electricity to power AI data centers is skyrocketing, placing immense pressure on traditional energy sources.

“If we continue pursuing clean energy for AI and data centers, we will need to triple the energy supply for data centers by 2030,” says Woodruff Professor Anna Erickson, a nuclear engineering expert from Georgia Tech. Nuclear power, with its high energy density and continuous operation, is well-suited to provide the steady base load of electricity required.

According to Erickson, the recent headlines of the restarting of Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island Unit 1 reactor (TMI-1) could play a crucial role in meeting these demands sustainably.

This decision, supported by a 20-year agreement with Microsoft, aims to provide carbon-free energy to meet the escalating power demands of AI data centers. The company’s goal to be carbon negative by 2030 aligns with the broader push for sustainable energy solutions.

According to the United States Energy Information Administration, as of Aug. 1, 2023, the United States has 93 operating commercial nuclear reactors across 54 nuclear power plants in 28 states. The most recent reactor to begin commercial operation is Unit 4 at the Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Georgia, which started on April 29, 2024.

The commercial start of Unit 4 completes the 11-year expansion project at Plant Vogtle.

A Historic Site With a New Mission

Three Mile Island, infamous for the 1979 partial meltdown of its Unit 2 reactor, has remained a symbol of nuclear caution. However, the reopening of TMI-1, which operated safely for decades before its 2019 shutdown due to financial constraints, represents a potential renaissance for nuclear power. The plant’s revival is seen as a strategic move to address the increasing strain on conventional electricity grids, exacerbated by the energy-intensive needs of AI technologies.

Expert Insights on Safety and Innovation

Erickson stresses the importance of rigorous safety measures and technological upgrades in the reopening process.

“Reopening TMI-1 will require addressing several critical safety concerns, primarily focused on aging infrastructure and modern regulatory standards,” she explains. Comprehensive inspections and upgrades to emergency cooling, radiation monitoring, and digital control systems will be essential to ensure structural integrity and operational reliability.

Erickson notes, “We can expect to see developments in advanced radiation detection, novel sensors, and AI-driven security systems.” These technologies not only enhance safety but also improve the efficiency and reliability of nuclear power plants. She also highlights the potential for innovative advancements in reactor technology.

Economic and Environmental Implications

The reopening of TMI-1 is expected to bring notable economic advantages. According to Erickson, upgrading existing infrastructure is likely to be more cost-effective than new construction and can be completed more quickly.

“The implications of restarting are significant,” she explains. “It supports clean energy goals and provides a reliable power source for the growing needs of data centers.”

Environmental considerations are also paramount. The plant’s carbon-free energy production aligns with efforts to combat climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“Nuclear energy is a clean and reliable power source that can help us achieve our climate goals while meeting the growing energy demands of AI,” Erickson emphasizes.

Public Perception and Regulatory Oversight

Despite the potential benefits, public perception of nuclear energy remains cautious, primarily due to historical incidents like the Three Mile Island accident. Erickson acknowledges these concerns and indicates the importance of transparent regulatory oversight and effective communication.

She says the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) “does a lot to ensure safety and security, but as experts, we need to do a better job of explaining technological advances and the benefits of nuclear energy.”

The reopening of TMI-1 is subject to approval from the NRC and other regulatory bodies, ensuring that all safety and environmental standards are met.

Summary sentence

Professor Anna Erickson highlights the reopening of Three Mile Island Unit 1 as a crucial step in meeting the growing energy demands of AI data centers with carbon-free nuclear power, aligning with Microsoft's sustainability goals.

Summary

Woodruff Professor Anna Erickson from Georgia Tech emphasizes the increasing energy demands of AI data centers, which are putting pressure on traditional energy sources and prompting a shift towards nuclear power for its high energy density and continuous operation. The reopening of Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island Unit 1, supported by a 20-year agreement with Microsoft, aims to provide a steady, carbon-free energy supply to meet these demands. This move aligns with Microsoft's goal to be carbon negative by 2030 and represents a strategic effort to address the strain on conventional electricity grids. Despite public caution due to historical incidents, Erickson stresses the importance of safety measures and technological upgrades to ensure the plant's reliability and efficiency.

Dateline

Fri, 01/10/2025 - 12:00

sar30@gatech.edu

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Fri, 01/10/2025 - 13:02

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