Rutgers Event Explores AI Research and Impact on New Jersey Industry and Education
A Rutgers University event brought together researchers, industry leaders and public officials to explore the potential for AI research collaborations to strengthen the state economy and academic life.
The New Horizons AI and Data Science Symposium, held at Rutgers-Newark featured remarks from U.S. Senator Andy Kim, who shared his hopes for New Jersey's tech future, as well as panel discussions and presentations from Google, Pocstock AI, Amazon and the New Jersey Big Data Alliance. It was part of Rutgers ROADMAPS for Collective Academic Excellence initiative, in which university faculty and students work together across campuses, disciplines, and units. The seminar was initiated, conceived and supported jointly by the Chancellors and by the Office of the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs.
“It’s clear why Rutgers is seen as a leader in the technologies that are transforming our present and will define our future,’’ said Kim.
He described his vision for an “Einstein corridor” in New Jersey, which will build upon the state's legacy of invention and industry creation. “That history, from Alexander Hamilton to Einstein to the students studying here today, provides us the roadmap for the work we need to do to shape the moment of change we are in,’’ said Kim. “We must build a new strategic and interconnected innovation ecosystem across our state. It will be a complex ecosystem that will build upon colleges, universities and existing business communities.”
“It will bring in venture capital in a way we haven’t seen before, create a true start-up and entrepreneurship environment, generate and advance manufacturing, modernize our ports and transit, and attract and retain talent from all over the world,’’ he said. “It will provide a blueprint for the future of our state to maximize our potential. It starts right here with the work you’re doing with AI and data science.’’
The ROADMAPS collaboration at Rutgers is one of the few of its kind within higher education, said Fay Cobb Payton, Executive Director of the Institute for Data, Research and Innovation Science (IDRIS) at Rutgers-Newark. Payton, who helped organize and host the event, said ROADMAPS seeks to move past the silos that can exist within academia and partner with state industry, community groups, and governments.
“It’s unique,’’ said Payton. “It provides for collaborative and interdisciplinary research across the various schools at Rutgers-Newark. It provides student education pathways for the next generation. There’s a direct economic impact associated with what institutions can do through innovation and job creation.”
Participating Rutgers entities at the event included the Center for Biomedical Informatics & Health Artificial Intelligence (BMIHAI) led by Leslie Lenert , the Rutgers Artificial Intelligence and Data Science (RAD) Collaboratory led by Stephen K. Burley, IDRIS, and Prevention Science, led by Sandra B. Richtermeyer. Antonina Mitrofanova, Deputy Director of the BMIHAI was also involved in the symposium planning.
Rutgers-Newark Chancellor Tonya Smith-Jackson emphasized the potential for AI to improve lives but urged seminar participants to consider the importance of guidelines and regulations.
“This is why this symposium is so important. We can exchange innovative ideas that will transform the world in ways that make a real difference to those who are underserved. But also let us be mindful of the need for ethics, and other structures build around AI and the application of data science. We must be fully aware of the unintended consequences,’’ she said.
"Roadmaps for Collective Academic Excellence is fundamentally about convergence to achieve transformative impact," said Keena Arbuthnot, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at Rutgers. "We are proud to work with our four Chancellor-led campuses to provide the collaborative funding and planning processes that can amplify our strategic investments, across Rutgers and with our institutional partners."
Representatives from the tech industry, including the CEO of the Newark-based Pocstock, which produces stock images of people of color, spoke of their companies' work and collaborations with Rutgers.
Willis Zhang, the lead for Google’s newly launched Capricorn Project--which uses Google BigQuery, a function that stores and analyze large data sets--described how the newly launched project is being used for pediatric oncology research. “We’re putting it out in the world to open up uses across the entire healthcare data chain,’’ said Zhang, adding that Rutgers University is the first higher institution with which it has publicly announced a partnership.
The Rutgers Cancer Institute, part of Rutgers Health, will integrate Capricorn to access AI-powered oncology tools to personalize treatment for cancer treatments, including an assessment of its potential for global health initiatives in Botswana.
Beryl Rabindran, head of Amazon Web Service’s Open Data Sponsorship Program, outlined how the program is being used by graduate students--including those at Rutgers--and others to access more than 800 publicly available data sets, cutting back significantly on the time it takes to gather and the store information, a costly process that can take months or even years.
“Our goal is to make more data more available to more people,’’ she said. “We lower the cost of research by making the sets already collected available so you can start from there rather than having to build your own and spending money to do that.’’
Steven Jones, CEO of Pocstock, discussed his company’s collaboration with IDRIS at Rutgers-Newark, which provides internships to students, who are learning to create content and data systems that will help improve AI’s facial recognition system. “We need talent. One of our passions is to open doors for young people,’’ he said. “Young people need opportunities to be producers of content and not just consumers.’’
