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• Institute of Health and Neurodevelopment to host children’s activities at Birmingham’s science museum Thinktank on Saturday 18 March • British Science Week is a ten-day celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths • Brain Awareness Week highlighted with research showcased in glass box exhibition space on University campus. Aston Institute of Health and Neurodevelopment (IHN) is celebrating British Science Week (10-19 March) and Brain Awareness Week (13-19 March) by hosting an activities day for children at the Birmingham science museum Thinktank, alongside a social media campaign to help educate and inform the public on its latest research. Each year, the British Science Association runs a ten-day celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths called British Science Week. It is closely followed by Brain Awareness Week, a yearly global campaign to increase public awareness of brain research. The week-long celebration is organised by the Dana Alliance with a goal to educate and highlight the importance of research in developing new treatments, preventions and possible cures for brain diseases. Both campaigns align closely with the work of the Aston Institute of Health and Neurodevelopment, with the Institute’s researchers keen to use the week to host activities and share their research and information about the brain health with the public. Activities to highlight both British Science Week and Brain Awareness week include a social media campaign sharing research updates from members and surprising brain facts on Twitter (@Aston_IHN), a brain research exhibition in the glass box space in the Aston University main entrance, as well as an activity session at the Birmingham science museum Thinktank in Millennium Point. The meet and greet with IHN researchers will take place on Saturday 18 March between 11.00 and 16.00. Children and families can speak to researchers about their work and take part in interactive activities, such as memory games and eye-tracking experiments. Professor Jackie Blissett, co-director of IHN said: “British Science week and Brain Awareness week are really important campaigns for us. Brain Awareness week is the perfect time to showcase our research and engage with the public on what we do here at IHN. “We work in close collaboration with the NHS to help research potential treatments for children who experience a range of brain related conditions. We put children at the heart of what we do, with the aim of unlocking the potential of research to support children’s health and development as well as answering the questions that matter to children, their families and the services that support them.” Visitors to the exhibition on the Aston University campus are encouraged to share their thoughts about the exhibition and their pictures on Twitter, tagging @Aston_IHN. For more information about Aston Institute of Health and Neurodevelopment visit its website and for more information about studying psychology and neuroscience at Aston University visit our course pages.
AI-powered cruise control system may pave the way to fuel efficiency and traffic relief
The CIRCLES Consortium, consisting of Vanderbilt University, UC Berkeley, Temple University and Rutgers University-Camden, in coordination with Nissan North America and the Tennessee Department of Transportation, concluded a five-day open-track experiment on Nov. 18. Congestion Impacts Reduction via CAV-in-the-loop Lagrangian Energy Smoothing (CIRCLES) Researchers tested an AI-powered cruise control system designed to increase fuel savings and ease traffic using 100 specially equipped Nissan Rogue vehicles. The experiment—which ran from Nov. 14 through Nov. 18 on a sensor-filled portion of Interstate 24—is based on the results from an earlier, closed-track study where a single smart vehicle smoothed human-caused traffic congestion, leading to significant fuel savings. A single AI-equipped vehicle could influence the speed and driving behavior of up to 20 surrounding cars, causing a kind of positive ripple effect in day-to-day traffic. The CIRCLES Consortium will spend the next several months analyzing data collected on the AI-equipped vehicles and their impact on the flow of traffic over the duration of the experiment. The test was conducted on the recently opened I-24 MOTION testbed, the only real-world automotive testing environment of its kind in the world. Stretching for four miles just southeast of downtown Nashville, the smart highway is equipped with 300 4K digital sensors capable of logging 260,000,000 vehicle-miles of data per year. The CIRCLES Consortium research is supported by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Departments of Transportation and Energy. Support was also provided by Toyota North America and General Motors. The experiment included Toyota RAV4 and Cadillac XT5 vehicles. Preliminary vehicle and traffic flow detection in the I-24 Mobility Technology Interstate Observation Network (MOTION). “On November 16 alone, the system recorded a total of 143,010 miles driven and 3,780 hours of driving. The I-24 MOTION system, combined with vehicle energy models developed in the CIRCLES project, provided an estimation of the fuel consumption of the whole traffic flow during those hours. The concept we are hoping to demonstrate is that by leveraging this new traffic system to collect data and estimate traffic and applying artificial intelligence technology to existing cruise control systems, we can ease traffic jams and improve fuel economy,” the CIRCLES team said in a joint statement. “Nissan has always been a pioneer in automotive innovation, and with our long-term vision, Nissan Ambition 2030, we know our future is autonomous, connected and electric,” said Liam Pedersen, deputy general manager at the Nissan Alliance Innovation Lab in California’s Silicon Valley. “CIRCLES shares our common goal of building a safer, cleaner world by empowering mobility.” “When it comes to transportation and mobility in Tennessee, we are at a critical juncture,” said Deputy Governor and TDOT Commissioner Butch Eley. “Traffic congestion is now becoming more prominent throughout Tennessee, and not just in urban areas. Addressing these challenges will force us to think critically about solutions, as transportation infrastructure projects traditionally are not identified nor completed before traffic congestion more dramatically affects our quality of life. One of these solutions is greater use of technology to enhance mobility. We are confident that this project and others like it will further strengthen Tennessee’s reputation for being a hub of automotive excellence.” “The I-24 MOTION project is a first-of-its-kind testbed, where we’ll be able to study in real time the impact connected and autonomous vehicles have on traffic in an open road setting,” said Meredith Cebelak, adjunct instructor in civil and environmental engineering at Vanderbilt and Tennessee transportation and transportation systems management and operations department leader at Gresham Smith. “The permanent infrastructure has been designed and installed, meaning the testbed will always be ‘on’ and available to researchers. By unlocking a new understanding of how these vehicles influence traffic, vehicle, infrastructure, and traffic management strategies, design can be optimized to reduce traffic concerns in the future to improve safety, air quality and fuel efficiency.” “Partnership across universities, government and the private sector is the key to pioneering projects like this one,” Vice Provost for Research and Innovation Padma Raghavan said. “From its earliest inception, all the partners in this effort have played vital roles. That trusted collaboration continues as the team analyzes results to seek new insights to address pressing challenges in transportation in Tennessee and beyond.”
Public lecture: how can we have a good future with artificial intelligence?
Public lecture: how can we have a good future with artificial intelligence?AI expert and educator Professor Anikó Ekárt to discuss one of today’s most provocative topics Lecture will take place on 28 February at Aston University Talk to explore artificial intelligence’s capabilities, benefits and pitfalls. The potential impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on our daily lives will be explored in a public lecture at Aston University. The University is inviting the public onto its campus on Tuesday 28 February to hear Professor Anikó Ekárt discuss one of today’s most provocative topics. Research into AI began in the1950s and since then it has played an increasing role in daily lives, such as chatbots and digital assistants. As an AI researcher and educator, Professor Ekárt will take a pragmatic view of the technology, arguing that society will benefit from it – but only if it is used responsibly. She said: “Digital assistants based on speech recognition are now broadly accepted and successfully embedded in many business services. “However, the most recent release of a chatbot with amazing writing capabilities has divided the world; some are relieved that their job may now become substantially easier, but others have questioned the impact of this on education. “In the lecture, I’ll suggest three key directions; responsible use of AI, exploring many AI techniques rather than focusing on just one, and educating the public about AI’s capabilities, benefits and pitfalls.” She will illustrate the success and further potential of less well-known AI techniques, such as evolutionary computation, genetic programming and symbolic regression, based on her 25 years of research. Anikó who is a professor of artificial intelligence, joined Aston University in 2006 as a lecturer. She leads the artificial intelligence research theme within the School of Informatics and Digital Engineering. Her research interests are centred around AI methods and their application, focusing on evolutionary algorithms and genetic programming. She has successfully contributed to applications of AI techniques to health, engineering, transport, and art. In 2022 she was the winner of the Evo* Award for Outstanding Contribution to Evolutionary Computation in Europe. The free event will be taking place on 28 February from 6 pm to 8 pm and will be followed by a drinks reception. To sign up for a place visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/an-inaugural-lecture-by-professor-aniko-ekart-tickets-516518760517
Public lecture: Be kind - effective design of software with and for real people
Public lecture: Be kind - effective design of software with and for real people Professor Jo Lumsden to give inaugural lecture on 9 March Will discuss need to approach software design with basic kindness. How software can be designed with kindness at its core is to be explored in a public lecture at Aston University. Professor Jo Lumsden is to give her inaugural lecture Be kind - effective design of software with and for real people on 9 March, which will be open to the public. Professor Lumsden said: “The approach to software development, however admirable, is often dominated by either the domain expert or the engineer who builds the software. “All too often, the voices of the real people who are destined to use the software are overlooked, or age-old techniques are adopted that do not support inclusive design or evaluation of such technologies.” Professor Lumsden will reflect on a wide range of examples which demonstrate novelty, or innovation. These could be in terms of designing with and interaction for end users, and evaluation to ensure feasibility and usability of technology that will be acceptable to end users. Professor Lumsden added: “Technology should be developed to help solve our problems or to improve our lives. “I am passionate about the fundamental need to approach software design with basic kindness. “I hope that the examples I will share in my lecture will inspire others to embrace empathetic approaches to future software design, so that collectively we can realise an effective and acceptable technological future.” Jo Lumsden is professor of human computer interaction in the College of Engineering & Physical Sciences at Aston University where she is also pro vice-chancellor (research integrity), head of the Computer Science Department and director of the Aston Interactive Media Lab. She has worked in research for more than 25 years and her recent work has centred on design and development of mobile assistive technologies which enhance the quality of life of those with special, typically healthcare-related, needs. Her multidisciplinary research brings together technologists, domain experts, and most importantly end users, to co-design technology, empowering end users to ensure their needs are met via the introduction of technology. The free event will be taking place on 9 March from 6 pm to 8 pm and will be followed by a drinks reception. To sign up for a place visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/an-inaugural-lecture-by-professor-jo-lumsden-tickets-530625183207
For the third time, Modern Healthcare has selected ChristianaCare President and CEO Janice E. Nevin, M.D., MPH, for its Top 25 Women Leaders list. The editors highlighted the bold strategic enterprise plan that Dr. Nevin has set for ChristianaCare, which focuses on vital areas, including addressing care disparities, effectively supporting employees, simplifying access to health services and accelerating transformation and growth. They noted a number of specific initiatives related to the strategic plan, such as the rollout of Moxi cobots, which have improved the workflows for nurses and patient care technicians by handling low-value tasks like deliveries. Modern Healthcare also cited that this past year ChristianaCare spun off its first-ever private, commercial startup company, CorriXR Therapeutics, which is using CRISPR gene editing technology to develop cancer therapeutics, starting with lung cancer. “Dr. Nevin has set ChristianaCare on a bold path forward,” said Nicholas M. Marsini, Jr., chair of the ChristianaCare Health System Board of Directors. “She leads the health system guided by our values of love and excellence, addressing difficult problems head on with courage and empathy. As ChristianaCare sets a model in so many ways for other health care organizations across the country, Dr. Nevin’s local and national impact make her most deserving of this recognition.” Dr. Nevin has been president and CEO of ChristianaCare since 2014. Under her leadership ChristianaCare has become one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals, according to Healthgrades. The system has also been lauded as one of the nation’s best large employers overall and specifically for inclusion and diversity. Modern Healthcare’s list of the Top 25 Women Leaders acknowledges and honors women executives from all sectors of the health care industry for their contributions to care delivery improvement, health equity, policy and gender equity in leadership. “They are innovators and team-builders advancing their organizations. They are mentoring co-workers while inspiring others to pursue careers in the industry,” said Mary Ellen Podmolik, editor-in-chief of Modern Healthcare. “And externally, they are forging coalitions to improve access to care for all patients. The women we’ve selected this year, from hundreds of nominations, are leading important advancements in the nation’s healthcare system.” This year’s honorees are profiled in the Feb. 20 issue of Modern Healthcare magazine and online at www.modernhealthcare.com/topwomenexecs.
Goizueta Faculty Member Uncovers Impact of Remote Learning on Educational Inequality
In 2020, the world went into lockdown. Learning in school became learning from the couch. Rather than listening to teachers in-person behind a desk, high school students had to find a computer to stream their lectures and lessons. What happens to educational inequality in a digital-first, remote-learning environment? Whereas students are traditionally bound by their brick-and-mortar schools and the limitations of funding in those areas, what happens when the walls are removed and students have access to the teachers, knowledge, and peers from other areas? Ruomeng Cui and co-researchers, Zhanzhi Zheng from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Shenyang Jiang from Tongji University, decided to find out. In their 2022 paper, currently under review, Cui and her colleagues looked at the performance of high school students in developing and developed regions of China. We thought that remote learning might reduce the inequality gap in education because when students are learning off-line, they’re restricted by their local resources. “It’s quite obvious that developing regions don’t have good resources, experienced teachers, or competitive peers—they often have inferior educational resources in comparison to developed regions,” explains Cui, associate professor of information systems and operations management. “We thought the accessibility of remote learning could help reduce this knowledge gap and help students in developing regions improve their learning outcomes.” Analyzing Education in Developed and Developing Areas The idea for the paper, “Remote Learning and Educational Inequality,” published earlier this year, stemmed from another of Cui’s papers, which looked at the academic productivity of women as a result of the COVID-19 lockdowns. “We wanted to study whether the switch to remote learning impacts educational inequality. Does it make it better or worse?” says Cui. “We are the first ones to offer empirical evidence on such a granular level about a large-scale data set.” The group analyzed the Chinese college entrance exam from 2018 through 2020, which students take during the last few weeks of high school; the test score is a requirement for undergraduate admission in China. It’s common for high schools to announce the number of students who scored 600 or higher (out of 750 total points). Using 1,458 high school exam results from 20 provinces, the group found that in 2020, when remote learning became the norm, “the number of students scoring above 600 points in developing regions increased by 22.22 percent,” in comparison to developed regions. Remote learning significantly improved learning outcomes of students in developing regions. We should think about encouraging the adoption of remote learning in education However, Cui and her co-researchers wanted to go a step further. Because the entrance exams are summaries of student data, they surveyed 1,198 students to drill down and ensure that these results came from remote learning rather than other factors. Respondents were asked to rate aspects of their remote-learning experience, such as access to digital devices, their proficiency in using software, how reliable their internet was, how they interacted with peers and teachers, and their access to online educational resources. The researchers found that students in developing regions were able to better connect with peers and teachers, and the students believed that “their learning efficiency was greater” because of the remote learning. Education inequality is not only a problem in China. It’s everywhere. It’s across the world. Having access to better educational resources online can be applied anywhere. However, the one caveat to their findings: Remote learning is beneficial, but students need devices and the infrastructure to support online learning, which is often lacking in developing regions or underserved areas. “We need to support, build, and develop the digital technology capability that enables the effectiveness of remote learning,” says Cui. Are you a reporter looking to know more about the impact COVID had on education and how inequality plays a role in how we educate students during a pandemic? Then let us help with your coverage and questions. Ruomeng Cui is an Associate Professor of Information Systems & Operations Management at Emory University's Goizueta School of Business. Ruomeng is available to speak with media regarding this topic - simply click on her icon now to arrange an interview today.
Craig M. Harvey, Ph.D., has been selected to serve as the new dean of the Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Computing beginning July 1. “I am excited to welcome Dean Craig Harvey to Georgia Southern University as the next generation of leadership for the College of Engineering and Computing,” said Carl L. Reiber, Ph.D., provost and vice president for academic affairs. “Dean Harvey brings with him an understanding of what a vibrant and growing research university will need to move to the next level as our region expands in its engineering and computing needs.” Harvey comes to Georgia Southern University from Louisiana State University, where he serves as the associate dean for academic affairs of the College of Engineering, professor of Industrial Engineering and is the holder of the Donald W. Clayton University Professorship. He brings to Georgia Southern a wealth of knowledge in leadership, student growth and expansion and advanced engineering studies. “It will be a great honor to serve as the next dean of the Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Computing, a college that prepares graduates in engineering, construction and computing to be ready to take on the challenges facing Georgia and the country in the 21st century,” Harvey said. “I look forward to working with faculty, staff, students, alumni and industry to position the college to meet the future demands in both education and research in the state where my engineering career began.” His research interests include human computer interaction, usability engineering, human collaboration within complex environments, human factors engineering and safety engineering. Harvey worked full time as a maintenance engineer and captain at Grand Forks Air Base in North Dakota and served in the United States Air Force Reserves while earning a Ph.D. in industrial engineering from Purdue University. He holds a bachelor's in industrial engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and a master's in industrial engineering degree from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. For more information — simply reach out to Georgia Southern Director of Communications Jennifer Wise at jwise@georgiasouthern.edu to arrange an interview today.
Experts in the Media: Georgia Southern investing $1.2 million to upgrade campus security cameras
Georgia Southern University is planning a major upgrade to its campus security cameras and video technology. With approximately $1.2 million budgeted, the University will upgrade the cameras in the resident halls and other buildings in Statesboro, Savannah and Hinesville to bring the current cameras from analog to a digital platform. Additionally, new cameras will be placed at entrances to theirr campuses that can tie into those from other law enforcement agencies. The end result will be an interconnected network of cameras across the region. The new technology package includes state-of-the-art Flock cameras, which are motion-activated and record license plate numbers of any vehicle that comes into the hall parking lots. Flock Safety’s “Vehicle Fingerprint” technology lets police search the video by vehicle make, color, type, license plate, state of the license plate, missing plate, covered plate, paper plate, and unique vehicle details such as roof racks, bumper stickers, and more. The cameras can be used to look for a specific suspect or a vehicle that has been entered into law enforcement databases. Additionally, the University can use Flock for investigative purposes as well by going back and looking for any cars that fit a certain profile if it was associated with a crime or if there was a gunshot detected nearby. “This upgrade allows us to add more cameras, extend our reach, add storage and searching capabilities and better integrate our cameras into other video surveillance networks in use by local law enforcement,” said Georgia Southern University Police Chief Laura McCullough. “This is a major step forward in our ongoing work to keep our campus safe.” The new equipment will add to, and augment, Georgia Southern’s network of more than 1,800 video cameras on its three campuses. The project will begin in the coming weeks and is expected to be completed by the start of the fall 2023 semester. The announcement has garnered a lot of attention, especially with local media and publications covering security. If you're a journalist looking to know more about this announcement or speak to an expert about campus security and safety - then let us help with your coverage. Georgia Southern University Police Chief Laura McCullough is available - simply reach out to Georgia Southern Director of Communications Jennifer Wise at jwise@georgiasouthern.edu to arrange an interview today.
Expert Comment - the humanitarian use of drones in the current Turkish/Syrian earthquake disaster
Dr Muhammad Azmat, Assistant Professor in Logistics and Supply Chain Management at Aston University, Birmingham, is available to provide comment on the humanitarian use of drones in the current Turkish/Syrian earthquake disaster, and why they should be used more. “There are several examples from the recent past that suggest autonomous drones and drone swarms could be an effective tool to speed up search and rescue operations. “I believe there is a need for more awareness of drones and humanitarian organisations should be encouraged in using this new technology.” Dr Azmat has previously written for The Conversation about the potential use of humanitarian drones during the Ukraine war Dr Azmat’s profile: Dr Muhammad Azmat Assistant Professor in Logistics and SCM - Expert with Aston University | ExpertFile If you have any queries, please contact Dr Azmat or Nicola Jones Mobile: (+44)7825 342091 n.jones6@aston.ac.uk Press and Communications Manager, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Aston University, Aston Triangle Birmingham, B4 7ET, UK
AI-Generated Content is a Game Changer for Marketers, but at What Cost?
Goizueta’s David Schweidel pitted man against the machine to create SEO web content only to find that providing an editor with bot-generated content trounces the human copywriter every time. Good news for companies looking to boost productivity and save cash, he says. But could there be other hidden costs? In December 2022, The New York Times ran a piece looking back on the year’s biggest consumer tech updates. The review was mixed. Ownership shifts in the world of social media garnered special mentions, but hardware innovations had been largely “meh,’ mused the Times. There was one breakthrough area that warranted attention, however: AI-powered language-processing tech capable of generating natural-looking text, the same technology that powers familiar chatbots. And one such technology could well be poised to “invade our lives in 2023.” Earlier in December, AI research lab OpenAI, released the latest update to its Generative Pre-Trained Transformer technology, an open source artificial intelligence. It’s latest iteration, ChatGPT, immediately went viral. Here was an AI assistant that sounded intelligent. Not only could it answer any question thrown its way without supervised training, but when prompted, it could also write blog posts, as well as find and fix bugs in programming code. ChatGPT could draft business proposals and even tell jokes. All of this at a speed that beggared belief. Since its first release in 2020, OpenAI’s GPT technology has powered through a slew of updates that have seen its capabilities leap forward “by light years” in less than 24 months, says Goizueta Professor of Marketing, David Schweidel. For businesses looking to harness this rapidly-evolving technology, the potential is clearly enormous. But aren’t there also risks that industry and consumers alike will need to navigate? Schweidel is clear that the academic community and initiatives such as the Emory AI Humanity Initiative have a critical role in asking hard questions—and in determining the limitations and dangers, as well as the opportunities, inherent in tech innovation—because, as he puts it, “these things are going to happen whether we like it or not.” Man Versus Machine To that end, Schweidel and colleagues from Vienna University of Economics and Business and the Modul University of Vienna have put together a study looking at how well natural language generation technologies perform in one specific area of marketing: drafting bespoke content for website search engine optimization, better known as SEO. What they find is that content crafted by the machine, after light human editing, systematically outperforms its human counterparts—and by a staggering margin. Digging through the results, Schweidel and his colleagues can actually pinpoint an almost 80 percent success rate for appearing on the first page of search engine results with AI-generated content. This compares with just 22 perfect of content created by human SEO experts. In other words, the AI content passed to a human is roughly four times more effective than a skilled copywriter working alone. Reaching these findings meant running two real-time, real-world experiments, says Schweidel. First, he and his colleagues had to program the machine, in this case GPT 2, an earlier incarnation of GPT. GPT relies on natural language generation (NGL), a software process that converts manually uploaded input into authentic-sounding text or content—comparable in some ways to the human process of translating ideas into speech or writing. To prepare GPT-2 for SEO-specific content creation, Schweidel et al. started with the pre-trained GPT-2, and then let the machine do the heavy lifting: searching the internet for appropriate results based on the desired keyword, scraping the text of the websites, and updating GPT-2 to “learn” what SEO looks like, says Schweidel. We partnered with an IT firm and a university to run our field experiments. This meant creating SEO content for their websites using GPT-2 and actual human SEO experts, and then doing A/B testing to see which content was more successful in terms of landing in the top 10 search engine results on Google. So this was an opportunity to put the AI bot to the test in a real-world setting to see how it would perform against people. The results point to one clear winner. Not only did content from GPT-2 outperform its human rivals in SEO capabilities, it did so at scale. The AI-generated content scored a daily median result of seven or more hits in the first page of Google search results. The human-written copy didn’t make it onto the first result page at all. On its best day, GPT showed up for 15 of its 19 pages of search terms inside the top 10 search engine results page, compared with just two of the nine pages created by the human copywriters—a success rate of just under 80 percent compared to 22 percent. Savings at Scale The machine-generated content, after being edited by a human, trounces the human in SEO. But that’s not all, says Schweidel. The GPT bot was also able to produce content in a fraction of the time taken by the writers, reducing production time and associated labor costs by more than 90 percent, he says. “In our experiments, the copywriters took around four hours to write a page, while the GPT bot and human editor took 30 minutes. Now assuming the average copywriter makes an annual $45K on the basis of 1,567 hours of work, we calculate that the company we partnered with would stand to save more than $100,000 over a five-year period just by using the AI bot in conjunction with a human editor, rather than relying on SEO experts to craft content. That’s a 91 percent drop in the average cost of creating SEO content. It’s an orders of magnitude difference in productivity and costs.” But there are caveats. First off, there’s the quality of the machine-generated content to consider. For all its mind-boggling capabilities, even the newly released ChatGPT tends to read somewhat sterile, says Schweidel. That’s a problem both in terms of Google guidelines and brand coherence. Human editors are still needed in order to attenuate copy that can sound a little “mechanical.” “Google is pretty clear in its guidelines: Content generated by machines alone is a definite no-no. You also need to factor in the uncanny valley effect whereby something not quite human can come off as weird. Having an editor come in to smooth out AI content is critical to brand voice as well as the human touch.” Asking the Big Questions Then there are the moral and metaphysical dimensions of machine learning and creativity that beg an important question: Just because we can, does that mean we should? Here, Schweidel has grave reservations about the future of ChatGPT and its ilk. The potential of this kind of technology is extraordinarily exciting when you think about the challenges we face from productivity to pandemics, from sustainable growth to climate change. But let’s be very clear about the risks, too. AI is already capable of creating content—audio, visual and written—that looks and feels authentic. In a world that is hugely polarized, you have to ask yourself: How can that be weaponized? At the end of the day, says Schweidel, the large language models powering these generative AIs are essentially “stochastic parrots:” trained mimics whose output can be hard to predict. In the wrong hands, he warns, the potential for misinformation—and worse—could well be “terrifying.” “Shiny new tech is neither inherently good nor bad. It’s human nature to push the boundaries. But we need to ensure that the guardrails are in place to regulate innovation at this kind of pace, and that’s not easy. Governments typically lag far behind OpenAI and companies like them, even academics have a hard time keeping up. The real challenge ahead of us will be about innovating the guardrails in tandem with the tech—innovating our responsible practices and processes. Without effective safeguards in place, we’re on a path to potential destruction.” Covering AI or interesting in knowing more about this fascinating topic - then let our experts help with your coverage and stories. David Schweidel is the Rebecca Cheney McGreevy Endowed Chair and Professor of Marketing at Emory University's Goizueta Business School. Simply click on David's icon now to arrange an interview today.
