The Convergence Innovation Competition (CIC), one of Georgia Tech’s oldest and most storied innovation competitions, is expanding to five Asian countries: China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Founded in 2007, the competition is organized by the Institute for People and Technology (IPaT) and has been sponsored in the past by AT&T, Verizon, Google, Cisco, Siemens, Panasonic, NTT, and other companies.

CIC aims to build entrepreneurial confidence, people-centered mindsets, and encourage innovation while responding to today’s global challenges and opportunities. Innovative projects in the contest are expected to align with the 17 United Nations sustainability goals and can fall within IPaT’s current research focus areas.

“It seemed only natural that the Convergence Innovation Competition would one day expand beyond our campus walls,” said Michael Best, executive director of IPaT and professor with the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs. “Georgia Tech attracts talent across the world and our researchers collaborate with many international institutions and faculty. With the Asian expansion of CIC, we are creating a competition where global teams can tackle global challenges, showcasing meaningful innovations which align with IPaT’s people-centered research.”

During his most recent and very tightly scheduled Asian innovation competition roadshow tour this spring, Best visited Sun Yat-sen and Yuan Ze University in Taiwan; Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Universiti Malaya, Multimedia University, and Universiti Putra in Malaysia; and King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok in Thailand.

All of these universities were excited to partner with Georgia Tech and be among the first southeast Asian anchor universities to help sponsor and support the competition according to Best who is also a professor in the School of Interactive Computing.

Best was specifically seeking to identify faculty fellows at each university who would be responsible for advertising the CIC Asia opportunity among students at their university, encouraging team submissions, while also providing advice and mentorship to participating student teams.

As added support, the Shenzhen Georgia Tech Education Foundation is helping to organize this year’s competition with the assistance of Shelton Chan, managing director of the foundation.

CIC semi-finalists will receive travel support to attend a gala competition on December 7th in Taiwan. The finalist will go on to receive travel support to visit innovation events and engage with entrepreneurship programs at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. In addition, the semi-finalist teams will receive $1,000 while the finalist team will receive $2,000 to help launch their ideas.

Detailed information about this year’s Asian Convergence Innovation Competition can be found here: https://research.gatech.edu/ipat/cic

The Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence released its Spring 2024 special issue of AI Magazine (Volume 45, Issue 1). This issue highlights research areas, applications, education initiatives, and public engagement led by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and USDA-NIFA-funded AI Research Institutes. It also delves into the background of the NSF’s National AI Research Institutes program, its role in shaping U.S. AI research strategy, and its future direction. Titled “Beneficial AI,” this issue showcases various AI research domains, all geared toward implementing AI for societal good.

The magazine, available as open access at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/23719621/2024/45/1, a one-year effort, spearheaded and edited by Ashok Goel, director of the National AI-ALOE Institute and professor of computer science and human-centered computing at Georgia Tech, along with Chaohua Ou, AI-ALOE’s managing director and assistant director, Special Projects and Educational Initiatives Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) at Georgia Tech, and co-author Jim Donlon, the NSF's AI Institutes program director.

In this issue, insights into the future of AI and its societal impact are presented by the three NSF AI Institutes headquartered at Georgia Tech:

• AI-ALOE: National AI Institute for Adult Learning and Online Education
  • Introduction to the Special Issue by Ashok Goel and Chaohua Ou.
  • The magazine features AI-ALOE’s work in reskilling, upskilling, and workforce development, showcasing how AI is reshaping adult learning and online education to prepare our workforce for the future.
• AI4OPT: AI Institute for Advances in Optimization
  • An overview of AI4OPT’s efforts in combining AI and optimization to tackle societal challenges in various sectors. The institute aims to create AI-assisted optimization systems for efficiency improvements, uncertainty quantification, and sustainability challenges, while also offering educational pathways in AI for engineering.
• AI-CARING: National AI Institute for Collaborative Assistance and Responsive Interaction for Networked Groups
  • AI-CARING’s section in the magazine details its comprehensive approach to using AI technologies to address the complex needs of aging adults, while navigating ethical considerations and promoting education in the field.
  • Co-authors contributing to AI-CARING's section include Sonia Chernova, associate professor at Georgia Tech and director of AI-CARING, along with members Elizabeth Mynatt, Agata Rozga, Reid Simmons, and Holly Yanco, all involved in AI-CARING research and education.

The magazine provides a comprehensive overview of how each of the 25 institutes is shaping the future of AI research.

About 'AI Magazine'

AI Magazine is an artificial intelligence magazine by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI). It is published four times each year, and is sent to all AAAI members and subscribed to by most research libraries. Back issues are available online (issues less than 18 months old are only available to AAAI members).

The purpose of AI Magazine is to disseminate timely and informative articles that represent the current state of the art in AI and to keep its readers posted on AAAI-related matters. The articles are selected to appeal to readers engaged in research and applications across the broad spectrum of AI. Although some level of technical understanding is assumed by the authors, articles should be clear enough to inform readers who work outside the particular subject area. 

To learn more, click here.