In a world rapidly embracing artificial intelligence, researchers are turning their attention to a critical question: How can AI agents become not just tools, but true teammates? Christopher MacLellan, assistant professor in the School of Interactive Computing and faculty member of the Institute for People and Technology, and his team are tackling this challenge head-on through a groundbreaking initiative that blends research, competition, and collaboration.

At the heart of their work is a unique human-AI teaming tournament competition — believed to be the first of its kind — designed to explore how people and AI agents can work together effectively. Unlike traditional AI competitions that pit agents against one another, this event emphasizes cooperation. Participants design AI agents that can collaborate with humans or other agents to achieve shared goals in a team tournament setting. 

“We’re interested in using cooperative games as a tool to understand how people and agents can team together more effectively,” MacLellan explains. “This competition is a step toward designing AI that doesn’t just follow commands, but anticipates needs and acts as a true partner.”

The competition, now in its second year and hosted in conjunction with the IEEE Conference on Games, invites participants to submit their own AI agents or join as human players teaming up with others’ agents. With up to $1,000 in cash prizes sponsored by IEEE, the August event offers both a fun and meaningful way to contribute to the future of AI development. 

The team’s research paper about the game, Dice Adventure: An Asymmetrical Collaborative Game for Exploring the Hybrid Teaming Effects, won the best paper award at this year’s International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games. Georgia Tech Interactive Computing Ph.D. students Qiao Zhang, organized the competition and was the lead author of the paper, along with Glen Smith, co-author.

More than just a contest, the initiative reflects a broader vision. As MacLellan puts it, “Society is moving toward a future where humans and agents work seamlessly together. We want to design for the best possible futures — where AI agents know how to team back with people.”

This vision challenges the conventional view of AI as mere tools. Instead, it promotes a paradigm where agents are proactive collaborators — anticipating needs, adapting to human behavior, and contributing meaningfully to shared objectives.

For those interested in participating in the upcoming tournament competition or learning more, details including dates and registration information are available on the competition’s official webpage: https://strong-tact.github.io. The competition is taking place online during June and July and the results will be presented at the IEEE 2025 Conference on Games, Aug 26-29.

As AI continues to evolve, efforts like this competition are paving the way for a future where humans and machines don’t just coexist — they thrive together as teammates.

About the Research
This research was supported by the Army Research Lab STRONG program awards W911NF2120126, W911NF2120101, W911NF2320203.

Citation: Zhang, Q., Smith, G., Ziyu, L., Dong, Y., Harpstead, E. & MacLellan, C.J. (2025). Dice Adventure: An Asymmetrical Collaborative Game for Exploring the Hybrid Teaming Effects. In Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games. https://doi.org/10.1145/3723498.3723793.

CREATE-X, Georgia Tech’s premier entrepreneurship program, kicked off its 12th Startup Launch cohort this month with a record-breaking 137 student teams and 25 faculty and research teams — totaling 318 founders. The summer-long accelerator, known for turning ideas into real-world ventures, is once again positioning Georgia Tech as a national leader in invention and startup creation.

This year’s cohort spans a wide range of industries, including artificial intelligence, defense, healthcare, gaming, sustainability, media management, agriculture tech, fashion tech, education, and more. 

“These founders are in the messy middle and that's a beautiful place to be. There’s a lot of freedom in that,” said Margaret Wagner, director of Startup Launch. “We’re all going to be in this together. It's a safe space to try new things. It’s OK if it doesn't work out because what we want founders to learn is an entrepreneurial mindset and entrepreneurial spirit — something you take with you no matter what you do after this.”

Over the next 12 weeks, teams will validate ideas, build products, and acquire customers with the help of dedicated coaches, a robust founder community, and a network of mentors and alumni. 

Raghupathy "Siva" Sivakumar, Georgia Tech’s inaugural vice president of Commercialization and the faculty founder of CREATE-X, spoke about the core of CREATE-X and what it would take for founders to succeed.

“Startup Launch is not about Georgia Tech gaining from your success. We are here just for one reason, which is to make you successful,” he said. “You need to hold yourself accountable. You need to be ambitious in terms of how big a problem you solve. You need to be emphatic that the customer matters. The successful teams are 100% behind what's going to make the lives of customers easier and better.”

In 2014, CREATE-X was co-founded by Sivakumar, Provost Steve McLaughlin, and other Georgia Tech faculty, including Ray Vito, Craig Forest, and Ravi Bellamkonda (who is now the executive vice president and provost of The Ohio State University). The program received its initial major philanthropic support from Chris Klaus, a Georgia Tech alumnus and tech entrepreneur, whose gift helped launch the initiative, and , played a key role in building out the program's maker courses. Over the years, CREATE-X has continued to grow, thanks largely to the philanthropic support of alumni and foundations who believe in its mission.

In the last decade, the program has produced over 650 startups, $2.4 billion in portfolio valuation, and had eight founders named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30. Wagner shared stories of past teams who pivoted dramatically — from a glucose-monitoring pillow to a sobriety app now valued at over $350 million, and from a camping gear delivery service to a billion-dollar logistics platform. 

“We don’t know which ideas will become the next unicorns,” Wagner said. “But we’re betting on you.”

At the kickoff event, McLaughlin and Klaus were honored for their contributions to Georgia Tech’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. McLaughlin encouraged the founders through the story of CREATE-X.

“From the very beginning, we challenged CREATE-X to be a startup as well. To this day, CREATE-X has raised its own money to do this. It's a reminder of what it takes to make this happen,” he said. “This is the most difficult challenge you have ever taken. I think at the time, we were probably skeptical about whether students could do it. Now we know that you can.”

Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera reflected on the impact of McLaughlin, Klaus, and others who saw the vision of Georgia Tech being an entrepreneurial campus. 

“Ten years ago, this was a crazy, absurd idea,” he said. “Now, 150 teams are working on their own crazy ideas. Even though sometimes there's this idea of the entrepreneur as a loner, what you learn very quickly is entrepreneurship is a team sport.”

Klaus spoke about people collaborating and helping solve problems together. 

“I'm especially inspired by Georgia with its complex history,” he said. “It continues to be a place where peace can be envisioned and pursued. I think this recognition strengthens my commitment to building bridges, resolving conflict, and lifting up voices that seek unity. As you build your businesses, you'll be building collaborations and partnerships, and hopefully make the world a better place.”

As the summer progresses, founders will be guided by CREATE-X’s core values: experiential education, entrepreneurial confidence, and real-world impact. Wagner encouraged teams to “show up uncomfortable” and “leverage every single resource” available.

The journey will culminate at Demo Day, where teams will showcase their startups to investors, industry leaders, and the broader community. The event is free, open to the public, and promises a front-row seat to the next wave of Georgia Tech-born innovation.

Demo Day 2025 will take place on Thursday, Aug. 28, at 5 p.m., in the Exhibition Hall. For more information and to RSVP, visit the CREATE-X Demo Day Eventbrite.

Congratulations to Danielle Willkens, a faculty member of the Institute for People and Technology (IPaT) and associate professor in the School of Architecture in the College of Design, and Michael Nitsche, also an IPaT faculty member and professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. Both recently received a 2025-2026 Undergraduate Sustainability Education Innovation grant.

These awards are funded by Sustainability Next, Georgia Tech’s Sustainability Plan. Recipients from this round represent six colleges and 15 schools, with total support nearing $150,000. The grants aim to transform instruction using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), which offer a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet.

These awards advance Georgia Tech’s Strategic Plan to connect globally and amplify impact by contributing to global efforts that advance the UN SDGs through education, research, and service. “Over the past several years, these grants have supported the transformation of dozens of courses reaching thousands of Georgia Tech students. Connecting core content to complex, real-world challenges can enhance motivation and learning, while preparing students to advance solutions,” said Rebecca Watts Hull, assistant director of Faculty Development for Sustainability Education Initiatives.All four rounds of grant-funded projects include high enrollment and core courses as well as electives, significantly expanding the reach of Georgia Tech’s sustainability-across-the-curriculum initiatives.

More details about the grant and all of the recipients >>

The IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) will be held Monday through Friday at the Georgia World Congress Center.

“This is the flagship robotics conference,” said Seth Hutchinson, a former Georgia Tech professor who served as one of two general chairs for this year’s event. “Most of the robotics researchers you want to hear from or see will be at this conference.”

This includes faculty from Georgia Tech's colleges of Computing, Engineering, and Sciences, as well as the Georgia Tech Research Institute, the Institute for People and Technology, and the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines.

ICRA will feature more than 2,000 presented research papers. Georgia Tech researchers authored or co-authored 57, including 18 written by faculty and students from the College of Computing.

In addition to the presented research, the conference will have demos, exhibitions, and robotics competitions throughout the week. The competitions include the Earth Rover Challenge for robot navigation over challenging terrain, the Quadruped Robot Challenges, and the Roboracer Autonomous Grand Prix.

More than 130 robotics companies and research institutes will showcase exhibitions. ICRA also hosts a career fair that Hutchinson said provides an excellent opportunity for Georgia Tech students interested in attending.

“We’re able to attract a lot of vendors. For researcher-oriented conferences, there’s no conference where you’ll see this many robotics companies showing up and showing off what they’re doing," he said.

"We have a massive career fair you don’t get at other conferences, so if you’re a student looking for work, this is a good place to be.”

Hutchinson, the former executive director of Tech’s Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines, said ICRA comes to Atlanta when worldwide interest in robotics is at an all-time high.

Read the full article posted at the College of Computing >>