IST Professor Lee Giles kicks off AI Immersion Series Oct. 28

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Nittany AI Alliance, Penn State IT and the Penn State Institute for Cyber Science are joining together to bring students, faculty and staff the world of artificial intelligence through a series of workshops and seminars called AI Immersion. The workshops will serve to educate undergraduate students, researchers and staff on the latest AI and machine learning tools.

Dr. Lee Giles, the David Reese Professor in the College of Information Sciences and Technology at Penn State, will kick off the AI Immersion series with a seminar for researchers and staff from 2 to 4 p.m., followed by an undergraduate student session from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 28, at the Flex Theatre in the HUB-Robeson Center at University Park. Giles will discuss what machine learning is and what it can do, as well as introduce a machine learning model — deep learning.

The event is free, but advance registration is required.

Daren Coudriet, director for the Nittany AI Alliance, said the overwhelming response to the Alliance’s first AI Immersion event in April — primarily focused on undergraduate students — helped them to see it was a need at the University.

“The systems, models and tools surrounding AI and machine learning are rapidly changing, and it is difficult to stay current on the advances in the various fields of AI,” Coudriet said. “By inviting leading AI companies to Penn State to conduct workshops on their latest advances in technology — students, researchers, staff and community businesses are able to explore how this technology could be leveraged within their domains. We are excited to help scale the AI Immersion model at Penn State and look forward to the innovation that comes with better understanding this game-changing technology.”

The next event in the AI Immersion series will be a two-day workshop with IBM on Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 13–14, at the Business Building.