Past AI in Action Event
In April 2024, the Office of the Provost and the Office of the Chancellor organized an AI in Action week for the Northeastern community. The theme was “AI in Action: Generate Your Experience”. Over 3,000 Northeastern students, faculty, and staff came together for a unique, groundbreaking event to deepen our community’s understanding of artificial intelligence and its many applications. The enthusiasm brought to the 45 sessions truly made the week special. Learn more about the past AI in Action sessions, presenters, and the AI topics below. Recorded sessions, including the Opening and Closing Plenary Sessions, are available in a public playlist.
To learn more about any upcoming AI in Action events, go to our AI in Action homepage
View Recordings:
Schedule
Monday, April 1, 2024: Opening Plenary Session
EXP 8th Floor (Boston, MA) & Virtual, 6 p.m. ET.
Topic: “Artificial Intelligence in Space and the Hunt for Extraterrestrial Life”
Keynote Speaker: Steve Chien
JPL Fellow, Senior Research Scientist, Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Systems; Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology / NASA
Tuesday, April 2, 2024: Bolster Your AI Literacy Sessions
Sessions 1: 6-7:20 p.m. ET
| Title | Presenter | College | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Brief History of AI & The Secrets of Making AI Work | Usama Fayyad | Khoury College of Computer Sciences and Institute for Experiential AI | Boston Behrakis 010 |
| How To Talk to ChatGPT to (Hopefully) Get It To Do What You Want It To Do | Pat Leomi | College of Professional Studies | Boston EXP 202 |
| Large Language Models and ChatGPT: What They Are and What They Are Not | Walid Saba | Institute for Experiential AI | Virtual |
Sessions 2: 7:30-8:50 p.m. ET
| Title | Presenter | College | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI Governance | Mohammad Movahedi | College of Professional Studies | Virtual |
| Unleashing Creativity With AI: A Deep Dive into AI in Research | Tianchou Gong | Khoury College of Computer Sciences | Virtual |
| Navigating the AI Landscape: Enhancing Reading Comprehension & Critical Thinking With ChatGPT | Celeste Marinez | College of Professional Studies | Virtual |
| Irresponsible AI | Ricardo Baeza-Yates | Khoury College of Computer Sciences and Institute for Experiential AI | Virtual |
Wednesday, April 3, 2024: AI For Professional Development Sessions
Sessions 1: 6-7:20 p.m. ET
| Title | Presenter | College | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leveraging ChatGPT for Job Search Success | Mike Sun | College of Professional Studies | Toronto First Canadian Place (100 King St. W.), Classroom 5, 46th Floor |
| A Data Scientist, a Data Engineer and a Data Analyst Walk Into an Organization | Hamit Hamutcu | Office of the Provost and Institute for Experiential AI | Boston EXP 201 |
| Prompt Engineering: Maximizing Co-op Productivity with AI | Zach Blattner, Cait Enz | Institute for Experiential AI and Roux Institute | Virtual |
| Tangible AI for All | William Claster | College of Engineering | Virtual |
Sessions 2: 7:30-8:50 p.m. ET
| Title | Presenter | College | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Generative AI Strategies for Working Smarter and Getting More Done | James Gardner | College of Professional Studies | Boston EXP 204 |
| Generative AI and the Co-op Job Search | Michelle Zaff, Jen Guillemin | College of Social Sciences & Humanities and D’Amore-McKim School of Business | Virtual |
| Effective, Appropriate, and Responsible Use of ChatGPT in the Workplace | Samuel Scarpino | Institute for Experiential AI and Roux Institute | Virtual |
Thursday, April 4, 2024: AI Career Fair & Applied AI: Innovation Across the Public and Private Sectors Sessions
AI Career Fair: Curry Student Center, 9 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. ET | Separate registration required
The AI Career Fair unites leading companies with Northeastern University’s deep AI, data science, and computer science talent pool.
Sessions 1: 4:40-5:55 p.m. ET
| Title | Presenter | College | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beating the Next Epidemic with AI | Ayan Paul, Alessandro Vespignani, Mauricio Santillana, Samuel Scarpino, and Jessica Davis | Institute for Experiential AI and College of Science | Boston EXP 204 |
| Exploring Generative AI in Higher Education: What Happens if We Outsource Thinking? | Ilka Kostka Rachel Toncelli | College of Professional Studies | Virtual |
| AI Ethics | Meica Magnani, Katie Creel, Vance Ricks | Khoury College of Computer Sciences | Boston ISEC 142 |
| Brainstorming and Design Session: Harnessing AI to Foster Community at Northeastern | Stephen Intille | Khoury College of Computer Sciences | Boston West Village H 366 |
| Everyday Robotics | Robin Walters, Robert Platt, Lawson Wong, David Rosen, David Klee | Khoury College of Computer Sciences | Virtual & Boston EXP 701 |
| Exploring Quality and Regulatory Considerations in AI for Healthcare: Asking the Right Questions for Safe and Trustworthy Systems | Attrayee Chakraborty | College of Professional Studies | Virtual |
| AI for Impact | David Fields | Office of the Provost | Virtual |
| Breaking the ML Black Box | David Bau | Khoury College of Computer Sciences | Virtual |
| Putting AI to Work: Experiential Project Showcase | Dan Koloski | College of Professional Studies, Khoury College of Computer Sciences, College of Science | Virtual |
| Accelerating Coding Mastery With GitHub Copilot: A Hands-on Data Analytics Dive | Prashant Mittal, Berkley Almand-Hunter | College of Professional Studies | Virtual |
Sessions 2: 6-7:20 p.m. ET
| Title | Presenter | College | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inclusion and Equitable Language Technologies | Malihe Alikhani, Silvio Amir | Khoury College of Computer Sciences | Boston West Village H 210B |
| From Hallucinations to Hallelujah: Fall Forward – Embracing Generative AI Error as the Fuel for Creative Innovation | William Francis Gates | College of Professional Studies | Virtual |
| Building a Custom Data Chatbot: An Experiential AI Session | Yvonne Leung, Dhruv Rajendrakumar Patel, Dhruvi Jugalkishor Modi | College of Professional Studies | Toronto First Canadian Place (100 King St. W.), 3 & 4 |
| MUGC: Machine-Generated Versus User-Generated Content | Shanu Sushmita | Khoury College of Computer Sciences | Seattle Event Space 225 Terry Ave N |
| Learn AI From an Amazon Scholar | Taskin Padir | College of Engineering | Virtual |
| Learn to Cook with AI-Powered Recipe Guidance in Augmented Reality (AR) | Mark Zolotas | College of Engineering | Virtual |
| Developing a GenAI Empowered Chatbot to Support Diverse Small Businesses | Xiaomu Zhou | College of Professional Studies | Virtual |
| How to Speak Bot – Building Tools to Advance Education and Learning With AI | Nik Bear Brown, Dev Shah, Yash Gopalji Pankhania | Office of the Provost and College of Engineering | Virtual |
| At the Intersection of AI and Climate: BlueTech at the Roux Institute | Alan Jamieson | Khoury College of Computer Sciences | Virtual |
Sessions 3: 7:30-8:50 p.m. ET
| Title | Presenter | College | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artificial Intelligence in Rehabilitation: Advancing the Art of Clinical Practice in the Age of Technology | Mat Yarossi | Bouvé College of Health Sciences and Institute for Experiential AI | Boston Behrakis 325 |
| What is the Future of Programming (With AI)? | Arjun Guha | Khoury College of Computer Sciences | Boston West Village H 102 |
| Unraveling the Power of Graph Neural Networks | Chinthaka Pathum Dinesh Herath Gedara | College of Professional Studies | Vancouver Classroom 1515 |
| Large Language Models as an Emerging Pedagogical Space | Tomas Galguera | Mills College | Oakland Mills Hall 135 |
| Using Generative AI for Research and Learning About Historical Sociology | Balazs Szelenyi | College of Professional Studies | Virtual |
| AI for Health and Wellbeing: Opportunities and Challenges | Byron Wallace | Khoury College of Computer Sciences | Virtual |
| Diversity, Equity, and AI-Inclusion | Michael McCluskey | College of Social Sciences and Humanites | Virtual |
| Designing Generative AI for Rural Workers | Saiph Savage | Khoury College of Computer Sciences | Virtual |
| Generative AI for Education: Create Modern Coursework in an Hour! | Alan Eng | Silicon Valley | Virtual |
| AI in Computational Medicine and Epidemiology | Matteo Chinazzi, Saeed Amal, Kiran Vanaja | The Roux Institute | Virtual |
Friday, April 5, 2024: Closing Plenary Session
Alumni Center (Boston, MA) & Virtual, 12 p.m. ET.
Topic: “Rebooting Democracy in the Age of AI”
Keynote Speaker: Audrey Tang
Minister of Digital Affairs, Taiwan; TIME Magazine 100 Most Influential People in AI 2023 Honoree
Facilitated by: Beth Simone Noveck
Director, The Burnes Center for Social Change; Professor, College of Social Sciences and Humanities, Northeastern University
Featured Guests
Opening Plenary Session: Steve Chien
JPL Fellow, Senior Research Scientist, Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Systems; Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology / NASA
The week begins on Monday, April 1 at 6 p.m. ET on the 8th floor of EXP with the Opening Plenary Session. The ceremony will feature Steve Chien, a renowned computer scientist and artificial intelligence leader in robotic space exploration. Chien’s address will explore “Artificial Intelligence in Space and the Hunt for Extraterrestrial Life.”
Closing Plenary Session: Audrey Tang
Minister of Digital Affairs, Taiwan; TIME Magazine 100 Most Influential People in AI 2023 Honoree
The week will culminate with the Closing Plenary Session on April 5 at 12 p.m. ET at the Alumni Center, where we’ll hear from Northeastern’s own Beth Simone Noveck, Director of The Burnes Center for Social Change, as she introduces and honors Audrey Tang, Taiwan’s Minister of Digital Affairs. Tang’s work focuses on leveraging technology to enhance government transparency and leading Taiwan to an inclusive digital era. Tang and Noveck will discuss “Rebooting Democracy in the Age of AI.”
