Invited Talks
Keynote Talk 1
"AI & Public Data for Peacekeeping and Emergency Response"
by Alex Jaimes
When an emergency event, or an incident relevant for peacekeeping first occurs, getting the right information as quickly as possible is critical in saving lives. When an event is ongoing, information on what is happening can be critical in making decisions to keep people safe and take control of the particular situation unfolding. In both cases, first responders and peacekeepers have to quickly make decisions that include what resources to deploy and where. Fortunately, in most emergencies, people use social media to publicly share information. At the same time, sensor data is increasingly becoming available. But a platform to detect emergency situations and deliver the right information has to deal with ingesting thousands of noisy data points per second: sifting through and identifying relevant information, from different sources, in different formats, with varying levels of detail, in real time, so that relevant individuals and teams can be alerted at the right level and at the right time. In this talk I will describe the technical challenges in processing vast amounts of heterogenous, noisy data in real time, highlighting the importance of interdisciplinary research and a human-centered approach to address problems in peacekeeping and emergency response. I will give specific examples and discuss relevant future research directions in Machine Learning, NLP, Information Retrieval, Computer Vision and other fields.
Alejandro (Alex) Jaimes
Alex is Chief Scientist & SVP of AI at Dataminr and Visiting Professor at Cornell Tech. He is a leader in AI and has built products that are used by millions of people (real-time event detection/emergency response, healthcare, self-driving cars, media, telecomm, etc.) at companies such as Yahoo, Telefónica, IBM, Fuji Xerox, Siemens, AT&T Bell Labs, DigitalOcean, etc. An early voice in Human-Centered AI (Computing), he has over 100 patents and publications in top-tier conferences and journals in AI. He has been featured widely in the press (MIT Tech review, CNBC, Vice, TechCrunch, Yahoo! Finance, etc.). He is a mentor at Endeavor and Techstars, and a member of the advisory board of Digital Divide Data (a non-for-profit that creates sustainable tech opportunities for underserved youth, their families, and their communities in Asia and Africa). He was an expert in the Colombian Government’s Artificial Intelligence Expert Mission which advised the President on AI policies. Alex holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University.
About Dataminr
Dataminr’s advanced AI platform detects the earliest signals of high-impact events and emerging risks, enabling enterprise and public sector clients around the globe to know critical information first, respond with confidence, and manage crises more effectively. Dataminr has partnered with the UN to accelerate humanitarian and crisis response efforts equipping thousands of UN personnel with Dataminr’s First Alert product.
Keynote Talk 2
"Towards Equity in Education through Generative AI?"
by Enkelejda Kasneci
With recent developments in generative artificial intelligence, exemplified by systems such as ChatGPT, many areas are undergoing a profound transformation. Especially in the field of education, the question of how to impart knowledge and competencies but also novel examination formats arises in the face of these changes. This presentation will highlight how these advanced technologies have the potential to address inequities in educational accessibility, create universally available educational resources, and promote inclusion in learning environments. We will address the implications of personalized learning experiences enabled by generative AI and its ability to democratize educational systems. The discourse will conclude with an exploration of the ethical ramifications and challenges associated with the use of these innovative AI systems in education.
Enkelejda Kasneci
Enkelejda Kasneci is a Distinguished Professor (Liesel Beckmann Distinguished Professor) of Human-Centered Technologies for Learning and Director of the TUM Center for Educational Technologies at the Technical University of Munich, Germany. She received her MSc in computer science from the University of Stuttgart and her PhD in computer science from the University of Tübingen in 2013. Afterwards, she was a Margarete von Wrangell Fellow (2013-2015), assistant professor of Perception Engineering (2015-2019), and professor of Human-Computer Interaction (2019-2022) at the University of Tübingen.
Enkelejda Kasneci investigates human-centered technologies, with a special emphasis on the crossroads between multimodal interaction and cutting-edge technological tools, such as VR, AR, and eye-tracking methodologies. Her research incorporates artificial intelligence to foster and facilitate the emergence of innovative learning paradigms. By investigating these interdisciplinary areas, Enkelejda Kasneci aims to enhance educational experiences and promote a more profound understanding of the intricate interplay between humans and technology.