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AI Everywhere: Where Artificial Intelligence and Health Care Intersect
Imagine a world where AI doesn’t just support health care providers, but anticipates their next move — detecting diseases faster than human eyes, analyzing patterns and patient data that humans might overlook and revolutionizing health care decision making at every level. Driven by data, AI can identify which patients are most likely to have repeated emergency department visits or thrive from personalized medicine. With the power of robotics enhanced by AI, people with medical needs can gain more independence, managing daily tasks such as taking medication, monitoring their health and receiving personalized care, all from the comfort of their own homes. And this is just the beginning. “AI is transforming – and is going to continue transforming – every industry, especially health care,” said Bharat Rao, a notable figure in the fields of health care, technology and AI. Rao himself has made significant contributions to artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics, particularly in health care innovation. His current start-up, CareNostics, uses AI technology to identify patients at increased risk for chronic disease. “We take this for granted,” he said, “but it’s like what I used to see on Star Trek as a kid. The opportunities are limitless.” Rao was a keynote speaker at ChristianaCare’s inaugural Innovation Summit, a two-day conference at ChristianaCare’s Newark campus in Delaware, in fall 2024. During panel discussions and keynotes, more than 200 attendees heard about current and future health tech from national innovators and thought leaders, as well as technical advice for inventors who want to patent ideas and protect intellectual property in a world where “AI Is Everywhere,” the conference’s theme. Speakers emphasized that it’s not just technologists, but also researchers, clinicians and other health care professionals who play an essential role in implementing AI-based health care solutions. “There’s no AI without HI, which is human intelligence,” said Catherine Burch, MS, CXA, CUA, vice president of innovation at ChristianaCare. “You want to help shape the future, not wait for it to shape you.” How AI helps improve patient care “AI is incredibly good at reducing noise in images,” said speaker David Lloyd, a technical leader at Amazon, who discussed the use of AI in radiology. “It can detect anomalies, and it can automate radiologist reports, which saves time for radiologists.” Data informatics is another example of the power of AI to help health professionals determine which patients are at an increased risk for falls, malnutrition or recurrent asthma attacks, enabling them to optimize patient health and prevent hospitalizations. “Some patients with asthma go to the ER repeatedly because their treatment plan isn’t working,” said speaker Vikram Anand, head of data at CareNostics. When patients have uncontrolled asthma, data-rich platforms like CareNostics can provide treating physicians with guidelines and other support to improve patient care, which may lead to evidence-based medication changes or other therapies, he said. Using robots as part of the health care team in patient homes may sound like science fiction, but speakers discussed the current evolution of consumer robotics, like Amazon’s Astro. Astro follows patients around their home, interacts with them and supports their care. When ChristianaCare tested Astro’s impact on HomeHealth patients, they found that it reduced feelings of isolation by 60%. “Astro is like Alexa on wheels,” said speaker Pam Szczerba, PT, MPT, CPHQ, director of ChristianaCare’s HomeHealth quality, education and risk management, who studied patients’ experiences with Astro. “People like interacting with Alexa, but they can only interact in the room they’re in. Astro’s mobility lets it go to the patient.” Based on early successes, health professionals are assessing robots as an extension of clinicians in the home. Early results show that patients with robots show improved activation with their care plans. This may lead to more widespread distribution of household robots to newly diagnosed patients to help prevent disease complications, avoidable emergency department visits and re-hospitalizations. How AI helps ease provider burden Speakers also discussed the potential of AI to improve health care delivery and patient outcomes by handling more administrative work for health professionals. “We can reduce some of the redundancy of work to free up time for people to be creative,” said speaker Terrance Bowman, managing director at Code Differently, a company that educates and prepares people to work in technology-driven workplaces. “AI should be taking the ‘administrivia’ – administrative trivial tasks – out of your life,” said speaker Nate Gach, director of innovation at Independence Blue Cross. “When you want folks to do the creative part of the job that takes brain power, have ChatGPT respond to easy emails.” Other examples shared included the power of AI to record meetings, create summaries and send participants automated meeting minutes. Benefits can be seen across industries. Specific to health care, eliminating the need for note-taking during visits enables more personalized and attentive provider-patient interaction. With the evolution of ambient speech apps, clinicians are no longer just dictating notes into the electronic health record. Now AI is listening to the conversation and creating the notes and associated recommendations. “The physician is no longer spending ‘pajama time’ doing catch-up work, at home late into the evening,” said speaker Tyler Flatt, a director and leading expert in AI and digital transformation at Microsoft. “Especially as we’re dealing with burnout, it’s better for patient and physician satisfaction.” AI may also help caregivers uncover details that they hadn’t noticed, helping them diagnosis patients with subtle symptoms. “We feed a large quantity of data and have it suggest commonalities about patients,” said speaker Matthew Mauriello, assistant professor of computer and information sciences at the University of Delaware. “Some things are very insightful, but humans miss them.” AI has also been used for patient engagement, including chatbots that can assist with tasks like scheduling clinical appointments or acknowledging patient questions. “One of the things AI is great at is natural language understanding,” said David Lloyd. “You can alleviate a lot of the burden if you have something that can talk to your patients, especially if it’s an administrative task.” Creating new health innovations “The key is to think of something you’ve done that’s original and non-obvious,” said Rao, who holds more than 60 patents in AI. “The process of writing about it will help you flesh it out.” Turning breakthrough ideas into game changers is just the start — protecting these innovations is what ensures they shape the future, rather than fade into the past. “Keeping it secret and internal to your organization until you know what you want to do with it is important,” Greg Bernabeo, partner at FisherBroyles, LLP, said. “Otherwise, the opportunity is lost, and you can’t get the genie back in the bottle.” Benefits of non-obvious thinking People who pursue “non-obvious” ideas are often on the cutting edge of technology in and out of health care, said keynote speaker, Ben DuPont, while discussing innovative ideas with Randy Gaboriault, MS, MBA, senior vice president and chief digital and information officer at ChristianaCare. “Amazon was not founded by a book retailer; Airbnb was not founded by somebody who was in hospitality,” said DuPont, author, entrepreneur, and co-founder and partner at Chartline Capital Partners venture capital fund. “Before Uber, the founders were running around Paris and they couldn’t get a taxi.” Innovative ideas often arise when people consider non-obvious points of view while thinking about solutions, DuPont said. Non-experts have the ability to cut through the clutter and find the frustration, which can lead to innovative solutions, which DuPont explores in his book “Non-Obvious Thinking: How to See What Others Miss.” Health providers, for example, may discover ideas when they move out of their comfort zones. “If you want to be a better doctor, go do something that has nothing to do with medicine,” he said. “Innovation happens at the collision of seemingly unrelated disciplines.” Diversity in the workplace is necessary, “but it’s not just diversity in the way people look: It’s diversity in how people think,” DuPont said. “There are people that think in dramatic and different ways. We need those people around the table. They might say: ‘If we just move this little thing over here’ … and it starts an avalanche that changes the world.” Involving the future generation During the Innovation Summit, students with an interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) from St. Mark’s High School in Wilmington, Delaware, competed against one another at ChristianaCare’s inaugural HealthSpark ChallengeTM. Twenty-six high school juniors and seniors were divided into five teams, then challenged to brainstorm ideas for solutions to address the negative mental health effects of social media on teenagers. Each team created a concept poster and pitched their ideas to Summit attendees. The attendees then voted for their favorite solution. The winning solution, Editing Identifiers, is designed to help minimize negative feelings about body image among teens. The solution would use AI technology to identify altered photos on social media. The goal would be to show teens that photos of “perfect” people aren’t real and alleviate the feelings of body dysmorphia. Looking forward Summit speakers highlighted many ways that AI is already incorporated into health care, as well as ways that health tech, AI, and robotics may improve care for patients in the coming years. “We are just scratching the surface,” Rao said. “It’s like laparoscopic surgery – years ago, it was considered experimental or dangerous. Today, surgery is commonly done laparoscopically, with better outcomes and less infection. AI can help identify care gaps and get the right treatment to the right patient. It’s going to be good for the patient.” In a rapidly evolving landscape, the integration of AI into health care not only enhances patient care but also creates opportunities for innovation and collaboration, said ChristianaCare’s Gaboriault. “As AI continues to advance, the health care industry stands on the brink of a revolution, one where the possibilities are as vast as the data that fuels them.”
Aston University is leading a new £5.5 million EU research project Will focus on converting fibre-optic cables into sensors to detect natural hazards Could identify earthquakes and tsunamis and assess civil infrastructure. Aston University is leading a new £5.5 million EU research project to explore converting existing telecommunication fibre-optic cables into sensors which can detect natural hazards, such as earthquakes and tsunamis, and assess the condition of civil infrastructure. The project is called ECSTATIC (Engineering Combined Sensing and Telecommunications Architectures for Tectonic and Infrastructure Characterisation) and is part of the Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action (RIA), which aims to tackle global challenges and boost the continent’s industrial competitiveness. Converting telecom fibres into sensors requires new digital signal processing to overcome the limited data storage and processing capabilities of existing communication networks. To address this the project will use localised, high performance digital processing that will integrate artificial intelligence and machine learning. The researchers’ goal is to minimise algorithms’ complexity while providing extremely accurate real-time sensing of events and network condition. The new laser interrogation and signal processing technologies will be tested using existing fibre optic networks, including those underwater, in cities, and along railway infrastructure to assess their potential. Delivered by a consortium of 14 partners across seven countries, from academic and non-academic sectors, the research will start in February 2025 and will last three and a half years. The Europe-wide team will be led by Professor David Webb who is based in the Aston Institute of Photonic Technologies (AIPT). Professor Webb said: “There are more than five billion kilometres of installed data communications optical fibre cable, which provides an opportunity to create a globe-spanning network of fibre sensors, without laying any new fibres. “These traverse the seas and oceans - where conventional sensors are practically non-existent - and major infrastructures, offering the potential for smart structural health monitoring.” Professor Webb will be joined by fellow researchers Professor Sergei Turitsyn, Dr Haris Alexakis and Dr Pedro Freire. For media inquiries in relation to this release, contact Nicola Jones, Press and Communications Manager, on (+44) 7825 342091 or email: n.jones6@aston.ac.uk
Global Technology Outage Raises Concerns About Ease of Future Cybersecurity Attacks
The world came to a standstill after a technology outage reported Thursday evening grounded airplanes, disconnected hospitals and shut down banks across the globe. A faulty software update was to blame, not cybercriminals, but Florida Tech assistant professor TJ O’Connor said the outage’s cascading effect points to larger concerns about our society’s reliance on the internet. The outage, which affected users’ ability to access Microsoft 365 applications, was traced back to a defect found in a software update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. CrowdStrike quickly released a statement confirming that the outage was “not a security incident or cyberattack.” The outage was nonetheless damaging, kicking institutions offline. Issues remained more than a day later. “Once those services go down, there’s this massive cascading effect,” O’Conner said. “If bank processing doesn’t work, then aviation doesn’t work. If aviation doesn’t work, shipping doesn’t work.” Ultimately, O’Connor explained, the biggest concern isn’t the glitch in the system; it’s the number of systems that broke because CrowdStrike wasn’t working. “I think what we’ll see a lot of people learn from this CrowdStrike incident is…that if they want to take the internet down in the future, all they have to do is hit one target,” O’Connor said. “It makes the threat landscape a lot smaller to attack for an adversary.” Over the course of several hours, a blue Microsoft error screen taunted companies worldwide. Airlines including Delta, American and Frontier grounded all flights. Several television news outlets, including the United Kingdom’s Sky News, were unable to hold live broadcasts. Some of the biggest concerns lie in the hospital industry, where planning, evaluation and continuous monitoring are essential, O’Connor noted. “[Hospitals] are constantly processing so much data, and for them to go out for a couple of hours means that decisions aren’t being made on an automated basis,” O’Connor said. “We’ve kicked over so much of our decision making to automated systems that we can’t let those networks fail.” According to the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS), the outage disrupted its appointment and patient record system. Mass General Brigham in Boston, Massachusetts was also one of several U.S. hospitals that cancelled non-urgent surgeries, procedures, and medical visits because of the disruption. 911 outages were also reported in several states, including Phoenix, Arizona, whose computerized dispatch center was affected, the police department posted on social media. In Portland, Oregon, Mayor Ted Wheeler issued a citywide state of emergency due to the outage’s impact on city servers, computers and emergency communications. Although CrowdStrike confirmed the incident was not malicious, O’Connor said it raises questions about overall reliance on the internet to make decisions, as well as ineffectiveness in securing it. “We continually have these wake-up moments where something happens, it’s large scale, it’s a news blip, and then we forget about it… but our adversaries don’t,” O’Connor said. “Unfortunately, the attack infrastructure and the ability to attack is getting easier and easier.” O’Connor also expects future network attacks to get worse, calling the unstable global environment a “national-level issue to address.” While large-scale attacks and outages are mostly out the individuals’ control, O’Connor said, people can take action to protect themselves from personal cybersecurity attacks by using multi-factor authentication as much as possible. Looking to know more? Dr. TJ O’Connor’s research is focused on cybersecurity education, wireless protocols, software-defined radio and machine learning. If you're looking to connect with Dr. O'Connor - simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.
Higher education, biotech and innovation - will the future be part of the 2024 campaign?
As the RNC brings national attention to Milwaukee, discussions are expected to cover pivotal topics such as biotechnology, innovation, and higher education. And as the Republican National Convention 2024 begins, journalists from across the nation and the world will converge on Milwaukee, not only to cover the political spectacle but also to dig deeper on the key issues that may decide the election. To help visiting journalists navigate and understand these issues and how and where the Republican policies are taking on these topics our MSOE experts are available to offer insights. Dr. Wujie Zhang, Dr. Jung Lee, Dr. Eric Baumgartner, Dr. Candela Marini, and Dr. John Walz are leading voices nationally on these important subjects and are ready to assist with any stories during the convention. Dr. John Walz President Expertise: Thought leadership on higher education, relevancy and value of higher ed View Profile “Engineering is not a very diverse field,” Walz said. “I want to continue to push those boundaries and make our programs open, to see more and more under-represented students come here and succeed here, and do well here.” MSOE president John Walz works to make 'hidden gem' not so hidden. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel May 17, 2023 Dr. Wujie Zhang Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Expertise: Biomaterials; Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering; Micro/Nano-technology; Drug Delivery; Stem Cell Research; Cancer Treatment; Cryobiology; Food Science and Engineering (Fluent in Chinese and English) View Profile “We accidentally noticed that we can make the hydrogel particle red blood cell shaped,” he explains. “We started then to make artificial red blood cells to mimic pretty much all aspects of red blood cells.” You're Somebody's Type MKE Lifestyle January 24, 2020 Dr. Jung Lee Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Expertise: Bioinformatics, drug design and molecular modeling. View Profile Dr. Eric Baumgartner Executive Vice President of Academics Expertise: Thought leadership on higher education, relevancy and value of higher ed, role of A.I. in future degrees and workforce development. View Profile MSOE serves as an educational resource to Wisconsin companies is building an A.I.-ready workforce. In 2018 MSOE was the first in the nation to launch a B.S. in Computer Science with a sole focus on A.I. and machine learning. Wisconsin Governor’s Task Force on Workforce and Artificial Intelligence December, 2023 Dr. Candela Marini Assistant Professor Expertise: Latin American Studies and Visual Culture View Profile “Contrary to stereotypical images of Native Americans trying to stop ‘progress’ by fighting against mines and pipelines projects, the Menominees’ sustainable forestry stands out as a clear example of resource management that actually thinks about, and works for, the future,” said Marini. The MSOE Mindset visits the Menominee Indian Reservation MSOE Online April 11, 2019 . . . Media Relations Contact To schedule an interview or for more information, please contact: JoEllen Burdue Senior Director of Communications and Media Relations Phone: (414) 839-0906 Email: burdue@msoe.edu . . . About Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) Milwaukee School of Engineering is the university of choice for those seeking an inclusive community of experiential learners driven to solve the complex challenges of today and tomorrow. The independent, non-profit university has about 2,800 students and was founded in 1903. MSOE offers bachelor's and master's degrees in engineering, business and nursing. Faculty are student-focused experts who bring real-world experience into the classroom. This approach to learning makes students ready now as well as prepared for the future. Longstanding partnerships with business and industry leaders enable students to learn alongside professional mentors, and challenge them to go beyond what's possible. MSOE graduates are leaders of character, responsible professionals, passionate learners and value creators.
Key topics at RNC 2024: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Cybersecurity
As the Republican National Convention 2024 begins, journalists from across the nation and the world will converge on Milwaukee, not only to cover the political spectacle but also to cover how the next potential administration will tackled issues that weren't likely on the radar or at least front and center last election: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Cybersecurity With technology and the threats that come with it moving at near exponential speeds - the next four years will see challenges that no president or administration has seen before. Plans and polices will be required that impact not just America - but one a global scale. To help visiting journalists navigate and understand these issues and how and where the Republican policies are taking on these topics our MSOE experts are available to offer insights. Dr. Jeremy Kedziora, Dr. Derek Riley and Dr. Walter Schilling are leading voices nationally on these important subjects and are ready to assist with any stories during the convention. . . . Dr. Jeremy Kedziora Associate Professor, PieperPower Endowed Chair in Artificial Intelligence Expertise: AI, machine learning, ChatGPT, ethics of AI, global technology revolution, using these tools to solve business problems or advance business objectives, political science. View Profile “Artificial intelligence and machine learning are part of everyday life at home and work. Businesses and industries—from manufacturing to health care and everything in between—are using them to solve problems, improve efficiencies and invent new products,” said Dr. John Walz, MSOE president. “We are excited to welcome Dr. Jeremy Kedziora as MSOE’s first PieperPower Endowed Chair in Artificial Intelligence. With MSOE as an educational leader in this space, it is imperative that our students are prepared to develop and advance AI and machine learning technologies while at the same time implementing them in a responsible and ethical manner.” MSOE names Dr. Jeremy Kedziora as Endowed Chair in Artificial Intelligence MSOE online March 22, 2023 . . . Dr. Derek Riley Professor, B.S. in Computer Science Program Director Expertise: AI, machine learning, facial recognition, deep learning, high performance computing, mobile computing, artificial intelligence View Profile “At this point, it's fairly hard to avoid being impacted by AI," said Derek Riley, the computer science program director at Milwaukee School of Engineering. “Generative AI can really make major changes to what we perceive in the media, what we hear, what we read.” Fake explicit pictures of Taylor Swift cause concern over lack of AI regulation CBS News January 26, 2024 . . . Dr. Walter Schilling Professor Expertise: Cybersecurity and the latest technological advancements in automobiles and home automation systems; how individuals can protect their business operations and personal networks. View Profile Milwaukee School of Engineering cybersecurity professor Walter Schilling said it's a great opportunity for his students. "Just to see what the real world is like that they're going to be entering into," said Schilling. Schilling said cybersecurity is something all local organizations, from small business to government, need to pay attention to. "It's something that Milwaukee has to be concerned about as well because of the large companies that we have headquartered here, as well as the companies we're trying to attract in the future," said Schilling. Could the future of cybersecurity be in Milwaukee?: SysLogic holds 3rd annual summit at MSOE CBS News April 26, 2022 . . . For further information and to arrange interviews with our experts, please contact: Media Relations Contact To schedule an interview or for more information, please contact: JoEllen Burdue Senior Director of Communications and Media Relations Phone: (414) 839-0906 Email: burdue@msoe.edu . . . About Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) Milwaukee School of Engineering is the university of choice for those seeking an inclusive community of experiential learners driven to solve the complex challenges of today and tomorrow. The independent, non-profit university has about 2,800 students and was founded in 1903. MSOE offers bachelor's and master's degrees in engineering, business and nursing. Faculty are student-focused experts who bring real-world experience into the classroom. This approach to learning makes students ready now as well as prepared for the future. Longstanding partnerships with business and industry leaders enable students to learn alongside professional mentors, and challenge them to go beyond what's possible. MSOE graduates are leaders of character, responsible professionals, passionate learners and value creators.
Expert Q&A: Should We Permit AI to Determine Gender and Race from Resumes?
The banner ads on your browser, the route Google maps suggests for you, the song Spotify plays next: algorithms are inescapable in our daily lives. Some of us are already aware of the mechanisms behind a targeted ad or a dating profile that lights up our phone screen. However, few of us may actually stop to consider how this technology plays out in the hiring sector. As with any major technological advancement, it usually takes society (and legislation) a while to catch up and adjust for unintended consequences. Ultimately, algorithms are powerful tools. Like any tool, they have the potential for societal benefit or harm, depending on how they’re wielded. Here to weigh in on the matter is Assistant Professor of Information Systems & Operations Management Prasanna Parasurama, who recently joined Emory Goizueta Business School’s faculty in fall of 2023. This interview has been edited for clarity. Describe your research interests in six words. Six words…that’s difficult to do on the spot. How about “the impact of AI and other digital technologies on hiring.” Is that condensed enough? That works! What first interested you in the intersection of AI and hiring practices? Before I did my PhD, I was working as a data scientist in the HR analytics space at a start-up company. That is where my interest in the topic began. But this was a long time ago. People hadn’t started talking much about AI, or algorithmic hiring. The conversation around algorithmic bias and algorithmic fairness picked up steam in the second or third year of my PhD. That had a strong influence on my dissertation focus. And naturally, one of the contexts in which both these matters have large repercussions is in the hiring space. What demographics does your research focus on (gender identity, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, all of the above)? Do you focus on a particular job sector? My research mostly looks at gender and race for two main reasons. First, prior research has typically looked at race and gender, which gives us a better foundation to build on. Second, it’s much easier to measure gender and race based on the data that we have available—from resumes, from hiring data, like what we collect from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. They typically collect data on gender and race, and our research requires those really large data sets to draw patterns. They don’t ask for socioeconomic status or have an easy way to quantify that information. That’s not to say those are less important factors, or that no one is looking at them. One of the papers you’re working on examines resumes written by self-identified men and women. It looks at how their resumes differ, and how that influenced their likelihood of being contacted for an interview. So in this paper, we’re essentially looking at how men and women write their resumes differently and if that impacts hiring outcomes. Take resume screening algorithms, for example. One proposed way to reduce bias in these screening algorithms is to remove names from resumes to blind the applicant’s gender to the algorithm. But just removing names does very little, because there are so many other things that serve as proxies to someone’s gender. While our research is focused on people applying to jobs in the tech sector, this is true across occupations. "We find it’s easy to train an algorithm to accurately predict gender, even with names redacted." Prasanna Parasurama What are some of those gendered “tells” on a resume? People write down hobbies and extracurricular activities, and some of those are very gendered. Dancing and ballet tend to denote female applicants; you’re more likely to see something like wrestling for male applicants. Beyond hobbies, which is sort of obvious, is just how people write things, or the language they use. Female applicants tend to use a lot more affective words. Men, on the other hand, use more of what we call agentic words. Can you explain that a little more? In social psychology, social role theory argues that men are stereotyped to be more agentic, whereas women are stereotyped to be more communal, and that their communication styles reflect this. There’s essentially a list of agentic words that researchers have come up with that men use a lot more than women. And women are more likely to use affective words, like “warmly” or “closely,” which have to do with emotions or attitudes. These communication differences between men and women have been demonstrated in social sciences before, which has helped inform our work. But we’re not just relying on social science tools—our conclusions are driven by our own data. If a word is able to predict that an applicant’s resume belongs to a female versus male applicant, then we assign different weights, depending on how accurately it can predict that. So we’re not just operating on theories. Were there any gendered patterns that surprised you? If you were to assign masculinity and femininity to particular words, an algorithm would likely assign “married” to be a feminine term in most contexts. But in this particular case, it’s actually more associated with men. Men are much more likely to use it in resumes, because it signals something different to society than when women use it. "One of the most predictive terms for men was references to parenthood. It’s much easier for men to reference kids than for women to reveal information about their household status. Women face a penalty where men receive a boost." Prasanna Parasurama Studies show that people perceive fathers as being more responsible employees, whereas mothers are regarded as less reliable in the workplace. We haven’t studied this, but I would speculate that if you go on a platform like LinkedIn, men are more likely to disclose details about fatherhood, marriage, and kids than women are. There were some other tidbits that I didn’t see coming, like the fact that women are much less likely to put their addresses on their resume. Can AI predict race from a resume as easily as it can predict gender? There’s surprisingly very little we know on that front. From existing literature outside of algorithmic literature, we know differences exist in terms of race, not just on the employer side, where there might be bias, but we also on the worker side. People of different races search for jobs differently. The question is, how do we take this into account in the algorithm? From a technical standpoint, it should be feasible to do the same thing we do with gender, but it just becomes a little bit harder to predict race in practice. The cues are so variable. Gender is also more universal – no matter where you live, there are probably men and women and people who identify as in between or other. Whereas the concept of race can be very specific in different geographic regions. Racial identities in America are very different from racial identities in India, for instance. And in a place like India, religion matters a lot more than it does in the United States. So this conversation around algorithms and bias will look different across the globe. Beyond screening resumes, how does AI impact people’s access to job opportunities? A lot of hiring platforms and labor market intermediaries such as LinkedIn use AI. Their task is to match workers to these different jobs. There’s so many jobs and so many workers. No one can manually go through each one. So they have to train algorithms based on existing behavior and existing design decisions on the platform to recommend applicants to particular jobs and vice versa. When we talk about algorithmic hiring, it’s not just hiring per se, but spaces like these which dictate what opportunities you’re exposed to. It has a huge impact on who ends up with what job. What impact do you want your research to have in the real world? Do you think that we actually should use algorithms to figure out gender or race? Is it even possible to blind AI to gender or race? Algorithms are here to stay, for better or worse. We need them. When we think about algorithmic hiring, I think people picture an actual robot deciding who to hire. That’s not the case. Algorithms are typically only taking the space of the initial part of hiring. "I think overall, algorithms make our lives better. They can recommend a job to you based on more sophisticated factors than when the job was chronologically posted. There’s also no reason to believe that a human will be less biased than an algorithm." Prasanna Parasurama I think the consensus is that we can’t blind the algorithm to gender or other factors. Instead, we do have to take people’s demographics into account and monitor outcomes to correct for any sort of demonstrable bias. LinkedIn, for example, does a fairly good job publishing research on how they train their algorithms. It’s better to address the problem head on, to take demographic factors into account upfront and make sure that there aren’t drastic differences in outcomes between different demographics. What advice would you give to hopeful job candidates navigating these systems? Years of research have shown that going through a connection or a referral is by far the best way to increase your odds of getting an interview—by a factor of literally 200 to 300 percent. Hiring is still a very personal thing. People typically trust people they know. Prasanna Parasurama is an Assistant Professor of Information Systems & Operations Management at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. Prasanna’s research areas include algorithmic hiring, algorithmic bias and fairness, and human-AI interaction. His research leverages a wide array of quantitative methods including econometrics, machine learning, and natural language processing. Prasanna is available to talk about this important and developing topic - simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.
Milwaukee-Based Experts Available During 2024 Republican National Convention
Journalists attending the Republican National Convention (RNC) are invited to engage with leading Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) experts in a range of fields, including artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, cybersecurity, urban studies, biotechnology, population health, water resources, and higher education. MSOE media relations are available to identify key experts and assist in setting up interviews (See contact details below). As the RNC brings national attention to Milwaukee, discussions are expected to cover pivotal topics such as national security, technological innovation, urban development, and higher education. MSOE's experts are well-positioned to provide research and insights, as well as local context for your coverage. Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Cybersecurity Dr. Jeremy Kedziora Associate Professor, PieperPower Endowed Chair in Artificial Intelligence Expertise: AI, machine learning, ChatGPT, ethics of AI, global technology revolution, using these tools to solve business problems or advance business objectives, political science. View Profile Dr. Derek Riley Professor, B.S. in Computer Science Program Director Expertise: AI, machine learning, facial recognition, deep learning, high performance computing, mobile computing, artificial intelligence View Profile Dr. Walter Schilling Professor Expertise: Cybersecurity and the latest technological advancements in automobiles and home automation systems; how individuals can protect their business operations and personal networks. View Profile Milwaukee and Wisconsin: Culture, Architecture & Urban Planning, Design Dr. Michael Carriere Professor, Honors Program Director Expertise: an urban historian, with expertise in American history, urban studies and sustainability; growth of Milwaukee's neighborhoods, the challenges many of them are facing, and some of the solutions that are being implemented. Dr. Carriere is an expert in Milwaukee and Wisconsin history and politics, urban agriculture, creative placemaking, and the Milwaukee music scene. View Profile Kurt Zimmerman Assistant Professor Expertise: Architectural history of Milwaukee, architecture, urban planning and sustainable design. View Profile Biotechnology Dr. Wujie Zhang Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Expertise: Biomaterials; Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering; Micro/Nano-technology; Drug Delivery; Stem Cell Research; Cancer Treatment; Cryobiology; Food Science and Engineering (Fluent in Chinese and English) View Profile Dr. Jung Lee Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Expertise: Bioinformatics, drug design and molecular modeling. View Profile Population Health Robin Gates Assistant Professor, Nursing Expertise: Population health expert: understanding and addressing the diverse factors that influence health outcomes across different populations. View Profile Water Resources Dr. William Gonwa Professor, Civil Engineering Expertise: Water Resources, Sewers, Storm Water, Civil Engineering education View Profile Higher Education Dr. Eric Baumgartner Executive Vice President of Academics Expertise: Thought leadership on higher education, relevancy and value of higher ed, role of A.I. in future degrees and workforce development. View Profile Dr. Candela Marini Assistant Professor Expertise: Latin American Studies and Visual Culture View Profile Dr. John Walz President Expertise: Thought leadership on higher education, relevancy and value of higher ed View Profile Media Relations Contact To schedule an interview or for more information, please contact: JoEllen Burdue Senior Director of Communications and Media Relations Phone: (414) 839-0906 Email: burdue@msoe.edu About Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) Milwaukee School of Engineering is the university of choice for those seeking an inclusive community of experiential learners driven to solve the complex challenges of today and tomorrow. The independent, non-profit university has about 2,800 students and was founded in 1903. MSOE offers bachelor's and master's degrees in engineering, business and nursing. Faculty are student-focused experts who bring real-world experience into the classroom. This approach to learning makes students ready now as well as prepared for the future. Longstanding partnerships with business and industry leaders enable students to learn alongside professional mentors, and challenge them to go beyond what's possible. MSOE graduates are leaders of character, responsible professionals, passionate learners and value creators.
Expert Research: Hurricanes and Natural Disasters Linked to “Grocery Tax” for Lower-Income Americans
Research from Goizueta’s William Schmidt uncovers the disproportionate impact of natural disasters on low-income families’ access to essentials. Global warming is accelerating severe weather with cataclysmic outcomes for communities all over the world. In 2023, the hottest year on record, no fewer than 23 weather-related disasters struck the United States. These natural disasters claimed hundreds of lives and caused $57 billion in damage. Recently, the federal government has come under scrutiny for uneven aid response to communities affected by hurricanes, fires, and flooding in America. William Schmidt But might there be other factors at play that see disadvantaged groups more vulnerable to the impact of severe weather events? Weighing into this is award-winning research by Goizueta Business School’s William Schmidt, associate professor of Information Systems and Operations Management. He and Xabier Barriola from INSEAD Business School look at the effect of three major hurricanes in the U.S. in the last 20 years. They find evidence of higher paid prices for basic groceries in the aftermath of each storm that disproportionately impact lower-income communities in affected states. In fact, says Schmidt, when severe weather hits communities, these families end up paying anywhere between one and five percent more relative to high income households for essential food and goods. This puts a major strain on already-strained resources in times of massive disruption. "We see a spike in the prices paid for household groceries of up to five percent hitting low-income groups immediately after a major storm hits." William Schmidt “Then you have to factor in the reality that poorer households spend around eight times more of their disposable income on basic groceries than high-income households,” says Schmidt. “It becomes clear that the aftermath of severe weather is harder for them to bear. And in our research, this is an effect that lasts for months, not weeks or days.” Exposing Hidden Costs on Those Hit Hardest To get to these findings, Schmidt and Barriola worked from a hunch. They figured that in low-income areas, a lack of infrastructure, lower-quality construction, and fewer grocery store outlets could translate into supply shortages in emergencies. Ensuing stockouts might then lead to knock-on price inflation for customers. These are low-income families for whom inflation has serious and significant consequences, Schmidt says. "We know that inflation hurts poorer communities. High-income families have the option of switching between high and low-priced goods according to needs or preference. But families with lower incomes are already purchasing low-priced groceries." William Schmidt “When there are disaster-induced stockouts to their preferred products, those families are forced to substitute to higher priced groceries,” Schmidt continues. Then there’s retailer behavior. Following large environmental disasters, store managers may be unable to keep necessities in stock. Under those circumstances, it is difficult to justify running promotions or implementing planned price decreases. To test these ideas, Schmidt and his colleagues looked at data from the weeks and months following Hurricanes Katarina (2005), Ike (2008), and Sandy (2012). They decided to pinpoint those locations immediately impacted at the county level. To do so, they used major disaster declarations issued by the federal government at the time. Then they integrated this with detailed grocery store sales data provided by Information Resources Inc (IRI) with zip code-level household income and demographic data from the U.S. Census Bureau. With each hurricane, the researchers looked at IRI data covering 30 different product categories and around 200 million transactions over a 12-week period. Schmidt and his colleagues then ran a set of analyses comparing prices paid by communities before and after each hurricane. They also contrasted price increases paid by low-income and high-income households as well as communities outside of the areas affected by the storms. Crunching the Numbers “Doing this triple-difference regression analysis, we find that lower-income communities pay an average 2.9 percent more for their groceries. That’s in the eight weeks following each of these disasters,” says Schmidt. "The effect varies. But it is roughly commensurate with the overall economic damage wrought by each hurricane, with Katrina being the worst. Here low-income families were seeing a 5.1 percent increase in the cost of food and basic goods, relative to richer households." William Schmidt The study points to a variety of mechanisms driving these effects. As Schmidt and his co-authors hypothesize, there is evidence that the same disruptions lead to fewer price promotions. They also see more frequent stockouts of low-priced goods. At the same time, there’s a shift in household purchasing from low to higher-priced products. These effects are long-lasting, says Schmidt. According to the study, post-hurricane inflation in the prices paid by consumers continues to affect poorer families for eight or more weeks. This amounts to months of economic hardship for those least resilient to its effects. Schmidt calls this “permanent inflation.” Pursuing Equity in Crisis Operations managers and policymakers should factor these findings into emergency relief efforts, say Schmidt and his colleague. The goal should be to service communities more equitably. So, there should be more thought to the provision of essential food and household goods. Also, there should be a particular focus on those most vulnerable to natural disasters and their effects. Current disaster nutrition relief programs are typically short. Authorities might do better by vulnerable communities by also extending things like cash and voucher programs, says Schmidt. And they should prioritize the ordering, shipment, and warehousing of essential goods. “Our research shows that hurricanes cost certain groups of Americans more than others in the longer run. The permanent inflation on food stuff and household necessities that we find constitutes an additional burden on part of our national fabric. These are people who are least positioned to afford it.” Hurricanes and the economy are both sought-after topics - and if you're covering, we can help. William Schmidt is an associate professor of Information Systems & Operations Management at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. His research focuses on understanding and mitigating operational disruptions, and applications of machine learning in operational decision making. To connect with William to arrange an interview - simply click his icon now.
Climate change research trailblazer elected to prestigious list of AAAS Fellows
University of Delaware professor Rodrigo Vargas has been elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) — one of the largest scientific societies in the world and publisher of the Science family of journals. The new class of AAAS Fellows includes 502 scientists, engineers and innovators across 24 disciplines, who are being honored for their scientifically and socially distinguished achievements. Vargas, professor of ecosystem ecology and environmental change in UD’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, is recognized "for distinguished contributions to carbon dynamics across the terrestrial-aquatic interface, development of environmental networks, novel data analysis tools and his leadership in creating a more diverse scientific workforce." Deborah Allen, who retired from UD in 2019 as a professor of biological sciences, was also names as a fellow. She was cited “for transformational contributions to STEM education nationally and internationally, particularly for developments in problem-based learning and faculty development.” Vargas is an ecosystem ecologist who studies how nature-based solutions can help address global environmental change in both terrestrial and coastal ecosystems, Vargas uses a variety of research methods, including data mining, machine learning, remote sensing, measurements of greenhouse gas fluxes and modeling techniques for forecasting applications.
#Expert Q&A: NJIT’s David Bader on AI, Data Science, Quantum Computing
Artificial intelligence, data science and the emerging field of quantum computing are among the hottest research topics in computing today. David Bader, a distinguished professor at New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Ying Wu College of Computing and the director of the university’s Institute for Data Science, offers his take on each. The Computer History Museum has recognized you for developing a Linux supercomputer using commodity hardware. Was that a life-shaping lesson? It was a venture into the unknown, leveraging the emerging potential of Linux and commodity hardware to build something that was both accessible and powerful. This experience taught me the importance of embracing risk and the value of resilience. There were technical hurdles, skepticism from peers and the daunting task of venturing beyond established norms. Also, the Linux supercomputer project was not just about the technology. It was about building a community around an idea. How do user-friendly AI systems like ChatGPT impact your work? It enriches the palette of methodologies and technologies at our disposal, enabling us to tackle more ambitious projects with greater efficiency and creativity. By integrating these AI systems into our research and educational programs, we're not just enhancing our ability to process and analyze data. We're also empowering students and researchers with the means to innovate and explore new horizons in data science without being hindered by the technical complexities that once acted as barriers. Some information workers fear that AI will make their careers obsolete. But tech progress can’t be stopped, so how should people adapt? By embracing these technologies, learning to work alongside them and leveraging their capabilities to enhance our own skill sets and productivity. Also, it's important to focus on the uniquely human skills that AI cannot replicate, such as creativity, emotional intelligence and critical thinking. By honing these abilities, workers can ensure they remain irreplaceable components of the workforce, capable of tasks that require a human touch — from complex decision-making to empathetic interactions with customers or clients. What should non-programmers learn about AI? It’s important to be aware of how AI decisions are made, the potential biases in AI systems and the ethical considerations of AI use. Additionally, developing data literacy is crucial, as it enables individuals to evaluate AI outputs and understand the importance of data quality and biases. A basic grasp of AI and machine learning concepts — even without programming skills — can demystify AI technologies and reveal their potential applications. Staying informed about AI advancements across various sectors can also inspire innovative ideas and foster interdisciplinary collaborations. There’s a sci-fi plot where computers get so smart that people lose control. The new class of user-friendly AI is making people excited but also nervous. Should we be afraid? While it’s natural to harbor concerns about the rapid progression of AI, allowing fear to dominate the discourse would be a disservice to the potential benefits these technologies can offer. Instead, this moment calls for proactive engagement with AI and an investment in understanding its inner workings, limitations and the ethical dilemmas it presents. By advocating for responsible AI development, emphasizing education and promoting transparency, we can foster an environment where AI serves as a tool for societal advancement. This approach ensures that we remain at the helm of AI's trajectory, steering it toward outcomes that uplift humanity rather than scenarios that fuel dystopian fears. What other emerging technologies excite you in their potential to transform computing? Quantum computing. This technology, with its potential to solve complex problems exponentially faster than classical computers, could revolutionize fields ranging from cryptography to drug discovery, climate modeling and beyond. Quantum computing's promise to tackle challenges currently beyond our reach, due to its fundamentally different approach to processing information, represents a leap forward in our computational capabilities. Its convergence with AI could lead to unprecedented advancements, making this era an incredibly thrilling time to be at the forefront of computing and data science. Looking to know more? We can help. David Bader is available to discuss AI, quantum computing and data science with media. Simply click on his icon to arrange an interview.
