Talk: Creative Visual Storytelling, Fri 2/23, 2:30-3:30
Laying the Foundations and Pushing the Boundaries
Creative Visual Storytelling: Laying the
Foundations and Pushing the Boundaries
U.S. Army Research Laboratory
2:30-3:30 pm, Friday, February 23, 2024, ITE 325b
Creative visual storytelling - that is, the creative task of storytelling based on visual input - involves both assigning meaning to the visual input and conveying that meaning in story form. The resulting stories are more than literal descriptions of events or scenery: they contain narrative arcs with characters, goals, and conflicts in potentially endless circumstances. In this talk, I will lay out my research exploring the foundations of creative visual storytelling and automating this novel type of storytelling. I examine three properties critical to such systems and the narratives they generate: the systems are highly expressive, their productive capability is key to problem solving and establishing story frames; the systems are responsible, the narratives they generate are grounded in the source material and avoid biases; and the system narratives are "co-constructive" with a human partner, they enable interlocutors to share common ground of experiences in different physical spaces across time through evolving events.
Bio:
Dr. Stephanie Lukin is a Computer Scientist at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory's Los Angeles regional site (ARL-West). She holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Computer Science from the University of California Santa Cruz, and had interned at Xerox PARC, Microsoft Research, and Google before joining ARL in 2017. Dr. Lukin specializes in narrative intelligence, examining the multi-modal interactions between humans and robots, and how stories can be told from the myriad of multi-modal data surrounding us.
William Gao, a senior in the Centennial High School, was selected as one of the 40 finalists in the 2024 Regeneron Science Talent Search from among more than 2,000 entrants. Each finalist was awarded a $25,000 prize.
William was mentored by UMBC
Professor Yi Huang, an Associate Professor of Mathematics and Statistics. Their research led to the development of an artificial intelligence-driven, resource-efficient, mobile diagnostic system to identify cancerous regions in patient tumor samples which is described in an article in Cancer Informatics:
Finalists will participate in a week-long competition in March 2024, during which they will undergo a rigorous judging process that goes beyond their own research to encompass other scientific disciplines and compete for more than $1.8 million in awards.
The NSF launched the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource Pilot on January 25. Its goal is to connect U.S. researchers and educators to computational, data, and training resources needed to advance AI research and research that employs AI. Federal agencies are collaborating with partners to implement the Pilot as a preparatory step toward an eventual full NAIRR implementation.
The NAIRR effort currently has several items relevant to the AI community:
- Survey on Researcher and Educator Use Cases for the NAIRR. NSF invites researchers, faculty, and both graduate and undergraduate students who are struggling to access GPUs, data resources, know-how, and expertise to fill out this survey, which will inform directions for the pilot and demonstrate the need for the full NAIRR.
- The first open call for NAIRR Pilot resources can be found on the nairrpilot.org. It targets a few NSF and DOE high-performance computing systems and testbeds and is focused on supporting safe, secure, and trustworthy AI research.
- A webinar on the NAIRR Pilot will be held on Wednesday, February 21 at 3:00-4:30pm ET via zoom. The webinar will include a Q&A period with attendees.
Here are additional information and links:
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The NSF launched the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource Pilot on January 25. Its goal is to connect U.S. researchers and educators to computational, data, and training resources...
https://new.nsf.gov/focus-areas/artificial-intelligence/nairr/
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UMBC AI
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Wed, 14 Feb 2024 13:32:26 -0500
AI, Privacy & Ethics Symposium with Dr. Ray Pun, 12-1 4/8
The Librarian is In: Q&A with Dr. Ray Pun
The Librarian is In: Q&A with Dr. Ray Pun
12-1 pm ET Monday, April 8, 2024
UMBC librarians will interview
Dr. Ray Pun on all things AI! Do you have any burning questions about ChatGPT and other LLMs? What does the current landscape in libraries and higher education look like with the presence of AI? What about artificial intelligence and its impact on the environment?
Ray has presented and spoken on the complexities and ethics of AI in numerous webinars and conferences, which include: "An Endless Game on Catch-Up: Exploring the Impact of ChatGPT on Research and Learning in Higher Education," "Generative AI Tools in Higher Education: Disruptors and Innovators? A Virtual Forum," "ChatGPT and Other AI Tools Impacting Academic and Research Libraries: Questions to Consider," and "AI Tools from Text to Image Services," among many others.
Raymond (Ray) Pun is the academic and research librarian at the Alder Graduate School of Education, a teacher residency program in California, where he supports library services by engaging with residents and teacher educators. With over 17 years of experience in the library field, Ray has previously worked at Stanford University, Fresno State, New York University Shanghai, and The New York Public Library in various roles. Ray holds a Doctorate in Education from Fresno State, a Master of Library Science from the City University of New York - Queens College, a Master of Arts in East Asian Studies, and a Bachelor of Arts in History from St. John's University. Pun has previously served as President of the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA) and the Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA), and on the American Library Association (ALA) Council as a Councilor At-Large. Pun is currently a candidate for the American Library Association President 2025-2026.
Bring your curious AI queries to this Q&A session with Ray!
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The Librarian is In: Q&A with Dr. Ray Pun 12-1 pm ET Monday, April 8, 2024 Join online via WebEx UMBC librarians will interview Dr. Ray Pun on all things AI! Do you have any burning...
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/library/events/127068
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Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery
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Mon, 12 Feb 2024 13:48:15 -0500
Mon, 12 Feb 2024 14:01:22 -0500
EDUCAUSE AI Landscape Study report
Findings from
The EDUCAUSE AI Landscape report summarizes the higher education community's current sentiments and experiences related to AI in higher education. It is based on a survey was distributed from November 27 to December 8, 2023, and focuses on the impacts AI has had on higher education since the mainstreaming of generative AI tools.
The report's sections cover key findings, strategic planning and readiness, strategic leaders and partners, policies and procedures, workforce impact, the future of AI in higher education, and recommendations and resources.
UMBC Ph.D. student
Farshad Safavi presented his dissertation proposal on recognizing emotions for better human-robot interaction on February 9, 2024.
Emotion Recognition via Multimodal Fusion for Human-Robot Interaction Using Deep Learning
One of the primary challenges in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) is enabling robots to effectively understand and respond to human emotions. Humans express emotions through verbal and non-verbal cues, while robots typically rely on pre-programmed algorithms and physical gestures. Our research aims to develop HRI that bridges this gap by leveraging multimodal emotion detection. Emotions play a crucial role in human communication and decision-making, significantly influencing human-robot interactions. We aim for robots to understand and respond to human emotions by integrating neurophysiological and behavioral channels. Initially, we examine unimodal facial expression recognition using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) and Vision Transformers (ViT). Next, we enhance the model with a Mixture of Transformers (MiT). Using this enhanced model, we have developed a human-robot interaction perception system. Subsequently, we investigate multimodal emotion recognition in conveying emotions in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). While unimodal techniques have been used to recognize emotions from various sources, research indicates that emotion recognition is inherently multimodal. Fusion representations provide a more comprehensive view of the emotional state, thereby enhancing emotion recognition accuracy. Therefore, exploring the role of multimodal fusion through computational models and neurophysiological experiments is essential. Our framework uses machine learning and deep learning to interpret complex physiological and facial expression data, enabling nuanced human-robot interactions. We focus on the offline fusion of multimodal methods, combining brain and behavior models, and exploring real-time fusion solutions. These human-robot interactions, based on emotions, will be validated through neurophysiological experiments, aiming for seamless and intuitive interactions based on a thorough understanding of human emotions.
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UMBC Ph.D. student Farshad Safavi presented his dissertation proposal on recognizing emotions for better human-robot interaction on February 9, 2024. Emotion Recognition via Multimodal Fusion...
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Sat, 10 Feb 2024 10:15:10 -0500
Tue, 27 Feb 2024 17:38:35 -0500
Prof. Cynthia Matuszek to chair NSF Robotics PI meeting
To be held in Baltimore, 28-30 April 2024
UMBC Professor Cynthia Matuszek is the PI on a new award from the National Science Foundation to support the 2024 joint Principal Investigator Meeting for NSF's two research programs on robotics and related areas, National Robotics Initiative (NRI) and Foundational Research in Robotics (FRR). Professor Jie Yin from North Carolina State University is the grant Co-Principal investigator. Dr. Matuszek will chair the meeting, which will take place in downtown Baltimore, Maryland, on 28-30 April 2024.
The meeting will serve as a conference bringing together a community of robotics researchers whose work is specifically relevant to the NRI and FRR programs. The agenda includes talks from selected projects, poster sessions, workshops, panel discussions, multiple keynote talks, a diversity-focused event, and Federal agency program updates from leaders in the research community. This meeting will also support the participation of a cohort of potential future proposers to the FRR program.
The annual PI Meeting for the NSF FRR and NRI research communities enables investigators to meet and share their research and best practices, discuss new research opportunities, explore new ideas and partnerships, and interact with Federal agency representatives, industry, and other stakeholders interested in NSF robotics research.
1-2 pm Wednesday, March 6, online
This
webinar (1-2pm on Wed. March 6)
will highlight key findings from a recent
EDUCAUSE survey focused on the inaugural EDUCAUSE
AI Landscape Study that summarized the higher education community's current sentiments and experiences related to
AI in higher education. It will discuss strategic planning and readiness, policies and procedures, workforce, and the future of AI in higher education. EDUCAUSE researchers and teaching and learning leaders will highlight the most notable aspects of the data, along with resources and recommendations for action.
Learn about...
- Findings released in the 2024 EDUCAUSE AI Landscape Study
- Sentiments and experiences related to strategic planning and readiness for AI
- Policies and procedures addressing AI-related issues
- Impact of AI on the higher education workforce
- Higher education community's sentiments and predictions about the future of AI
- Implications and next steps institutions can take to adapt to AI capabilities and tools
Registration is free. You must create a free EDUCAUSE account with your UMBC email and affiliate your account with UMBC to register at no cost. Scroll down the list of institutions to find University of Maryland Baltimore County to sign in. Can't attend the live session? Register anyway and view the recording after the event.
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Webinar - The 2024 AI Landscape Study from EDUCAUSE 1-2 pm Wednesday, March 6, online This webinar (1-2pm on Wed. March 6) will highlight key findings from a recent EDUCAUSE survey focused on...
https://events.educause.edu/webinar/2024/the-2024-ai-landscape-study-current-sentiments-and-experiences
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UMBC AI
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Thu, 08 Feb 2024 10:25:20 -0500
Thu, 08 Feb 2024 10:48:38 -0500
UMBC faculty participate in NIH ethical AI workshop
Focus on ethical and transparent AI in biomedical research
UMBC faculty Karuna Joshi (IS) and Ansu Chatterjee (Math & Statistics) were invited to participate in the NIH's Office on Data Science Strategy (ODSS) workshop on ethical and transparent Artificial Intelligence technology in biomedical research.
Specific objectives of the interactive workshop included
- Developing transparency guidelines for NIH awardees using, developing, or contributing to AI;
- Identifying tools and capability gaps for ethical and transparent AI;
- Predicting trends and future states.
Professor Chatterjee, who is the inaugural Sinha Ennovate Endowed Chair in Statistics at UMBC, was one of the workshop leads.
While fostering and maintaining academic integrity has always been an important goal of instruction at UMBC, advances in "the other AI" -- artificial intelligence -- has complicated this effort. Students are not always aware of what constitutes plagiarism where tools such as ChatGPT are concerned. Meanwhile, faculty often feel pressure to ensure that students meet course learning objectives and also help them learn how to use AI tools ethically and responsibly. The fact that effective tools to detect students' usage of AI in completing assignments do not currently exist further complicates the academic integrity landscape.
In this session we will revisit best practices in course, syllabus, and assignment design in light of the opportunities and temptations that generative AI tools present. Faculty will learn how to make their policies around AI use clear to students and will gain strategies for dissuading students from inappropriate use of these tools.
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The UMBC Faculty Development Center will hold a one hour online session on Encouraging Academic Integrity in the Era of AI vis WebEx from 12-1 pm on February 14, 2024. While fostering and...
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Thu, 01 Feb 2024 18:09:08 -0500
