Albany, Oct 16 - Governor Kathy Hochul announced the creation of SUNY AI Research Groups at SUNY’s inaugural AI Symposium at UAlbany. The event brought together researchers and faculty members from across the SUNY system to exchange ideas and cutting-edge research around Artificial Intelligence.
The SUNY AI Research Groups, composed of top leaders and researchers, will be at the forefront of leading the New York State in AI-focused education, infrastructure, and workforce development. “New Yorkers have a constant ambition to place ourselves at the vanguard of what’s driving change and offer opportunities no one else can,” said Governor Hochul. “AI is fundamentally changing the world we live in, and New York doesn’t just want to get in at the ground floor—we want to set the standard in AI development.
GM, IBM Semiconductors and VP, Hybrid Cloud at IBM Research Mukesh V. Khare giving the Keynote Address after Gov. Hochul announced the creation of SUNY AI working groups
Supporting the Governor's and New York State Legislature’s vision, Brian Digman, Chief Information Officer at SUNY, said, “The government needs to stay invested in this area, certainly financially, [because] the research is super expensive, but also to keep the field open, to make sure that more players can join the market, and those players already in the market do not completely monopolize it.”
SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. said, “Artificial intelligence development and application into education and the workforce has exploded over the past year, with much of the popular attention focused on how we can assure ourselves that student work and even faculty work are original in the context of ChatGPT,” King said. “But we all understand the potential and the risks are so much bigger than that. AI is intruding upon, improving upon and impacting nearly every area of our lives.”
The AI working group is co-chaired by Stony Brook University Dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences Andrew Singer and University at Buffalo Vice President for Research and Economic Development Venu Govindaraju.
Stony Brook faculty Prof. Samaras and Prof. Schwartz at SUNY AI Symposium’s Lightning Talks
The group’s focus areas include: Data Privacy and Security, Education, Research and Infrastructure, Workforce and Industry, and Social Impact: Ethics and Trustworthiness. Three of them are represented by Stony Brook University faculty:
Data Privacy and Security – Stony Brook University Associate Professor, Computer Science, Michalis Polychronakis; and SUNY Distinguished Service Professor, Binghamton University Department Chair Computer Science Weiyi Meng
Education – Stony Brook University Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs & Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mónica Fernández Bugallo; and Binghamton University Associate Dean of Research Meera Sampath
Workforce and Industry –Stony Brook University Distinguished Teaching Professor, Computer Science, Steven Skiena; and University at Buffalo SUNY Empire Innovation Professor, Computer Science and Engineering, Director of Artificial Intelligence Institute, David Doermann
Director of the Institute for AI-Driven Discovery and Innovation, Stony Brook University, Steven Skiena, said “We are proud to be part of this moment, to lead and monitor how AI will define the nation’s future. Our best minds and tools are working to advance artificial intelligence goals for the state and the SUNY community.”
Several Stony Brook faculty members and researchers were present at the SUNY AI Symposium, including Lightning Talk speakers Dimitris Samaras, SUNY Empire Innovation Professor, Director Computer Vision Lab, Department of Computer Science; and Andrew Schwartz, Director, HLAB: Human Language Analysis Beings, Stony Brook University Department of Computer Science.
Stony Brook members at SUNY AI Symposium
Stony Brook students presented posters at the event, as Director Steven Skiena spoke about the institute’s role in SUNY’s progress and vision for the future of AI, “It’s great to see our students and faculty members networking among their SUNY peers and working together to advance AI research throughout New York state.”
Ankita Nagpal
Communications Assistant