At Big Data Alliance symposium, experts examine AI’s promise and risks

Source Domain: today.rowan.edu

Industry and government leaders, researchers and academics gathered at the 13th annual New Jersey Big Data Alliance symposium Wednesday, where they explored the growing promise—and challenges—of artificial intelligence.

Established in 2013 to advance computing and data analytics in New Jersey, the alliance hosts an annual gathering to build the state’s expertise and leadership in AI. Hosted on Rowan’s campus, the event underscored the institution’s growing role as a hub for AI research and collaboration in the state.

Led by Rowan University mathematics professor and department head Umashanger Thayasivam, Ph.D., a statewide committee organized the daylong symposium, which drew about 350 attendees, including more than 80 students.

AI’s growing impact

Artificial intelligence—the use of machines to simulate human intelligence—is a hot topic, speakers acknowledged, with profound implications for humanity. For New Jersey, the stakes are especially high as industries across the state seek to remain competitive in a rapidly evolving economy.

Keynote speaker Khalifeh Al Jadda, Ph.D., director of data science at Google, called it a “transformative technology” that will surpass the internet and the smartphone in its impacts on the global economy.

“This is a general purpose technology that’s going to be embedded and integrated in each and every aspect of our lives,” Al Jadda said. “Therefore, it’s going to transform our lives the way electricity transformed our lives.”

Citing estimates of up to nearly $27 trillion in economic impact, Al Jadda said every sector of the economy will need to leverage AI. Rather than replacing humans with machines, Al Jadda argued the technology will augment human workers to increase productivity, capabilities and innovation. Meanwhile, companies and even entire countries are striving to meet those expectations in a race toward their own AI revolution.

“There’s a huge…

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