New lecture series brings AI to the public

The Michigan AI Lab in CSE hosted the first in its series of Friday Night AI events. Open to the public and drawing a full house, the evening featured a panel with Profs. Benjamin Kuipers and Edwin Olson  as speakers, and Prof. Rada Mihalcea as moderator, on ethical questions surrounding AI and self-driving cars. The lab plans to continue the event as a monthly feature, covering accessible and popular questions in the field.

Designed for general audiences, the new event series aims to create an educational environment for the public while highlighting the research and perspectives of professionals in the field of AI, both from the department and outside institutions.

The kickoff event, hosted in the Ann Arbor District Library, featured a discussion on the ethical implications of self-driving cars. Olson and Kuipers, two of CSE’s experts on robotics, answered questions about the ability of autonomous vehicles to make ethical decisions, a universal moral code for cars, and where responsibility should lie in the event of an accident.

Dates for future additions to the lecture series to be announced on the Michigan AI website.