UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State students, faculty and staff, along with nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), are invited to learn more about how artificial intelligence can be used to address challenges facing organizations during the next Nittany AI Inspire virtual event, “Nonprofits, AI and the Greater Good,” from 4-5:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13. Nittany AI Inspire is a program facilitated by the Nittany AI Alliance, a Penn State Outreach service. The event is designed to inspire participation in the 2021 Nittany AI Challenge.
Fred Brown, president and CEO of The Forbes Funds, will be the keynote presenter and one of the panelists for the event. The Forbes Funds is a supporting organization of The Pittsburgh Foundation and a philanthropic organization focused on strengthening the impact of community nonprofits in the Pittsburgh area. Brown said the plethora of challenges facing humanity require diversity, agility, innovation and transparency.
“The singularity intersection of the 21st global economy requires the ability to optimize the gifts, skills and talents of humans. Technology plays a critical role in how trans contextual thinking is integrated into AI,” Brown said. “I'm excited to share how our efforts have deepened community using technology as an aid to humanity and not a substitution to our intelligence. Linking learning to the social determinants of health and integrating outputs to the UN Sustainable Development Group provides a lens into our racial equity work and its intersection with AI.”
Sandra Allain, director of Penn State's Law, Policy and Engineering initiative, will moderate a panel discussion with Brown; Somava Saha, founder and executive lead for Well-being and Equity in the World (WE in the World); and Amulya Yadav, professor in the College of Information Sciences and Technology at Penn State. Attendees also will get a chance to hear from Aidly, one of the top teams that competed in the 2020 Nittany AI Challenge. The team used AI to create a solution to help nonprofits connect with volunteers.
Visit the Nittany AI Alliance website for more information about Nittany AI Inspire and to register for the virtual event. Other upcoming Nittany AI Inspire events include “Global Education, AI and the Greater Good” on Jan. 22, 2021.
Preparations for the 2021 Nittany AI Challenge are underway, and students can use what they learn during the Nittany AI Inspire events to solve problems in the areas of humanitarianism, education, health and the environment. Students can learn more about how to form a team to participate in the challenge and faculty can learn how to mentor a team by visiting the Nittany AI Alliance website.