Almost everyone is familiar with the way artificial intelligence (AI) has begun to transform our lives in just a few short years — but which of its seemingly miraculous feats will prove valuable, and which will turn out to be mere novelties? On March 27, Emory convened a sold-out conference, “Ground Truth: Reclaiming Reality in the Age of AI,” that brought together hundreds of faculty, staff, student and community participants to examine this critical question from every angle.
“The technology is powerful, but the hype is real, too,” said Joe Sutherland, director of Emory’s Center for AI Learning, which organized the conference. “When those things come together, people need a place where they can speak honestly. That's what this conference is for.”
Speakers from Emory and across the country gathered to discuss the influence of AI on creativity, work, medicine, energy and public trust. Keynote speaker Zeynep Tufekci, who studies the social effects of new technologies, reminded attendees that every new technology has been both hyped and disruptive.
“I am not against these technologies,” Tufekci said. “There's no question there’s a lot of upside and potential and power in these technologies. I want them to make my life easier — like a useful toaster. But I do not want them to align against the public interest.”
Tufekci’s cautions frequently informed the discussions that followed. Panelists talked about the need to get creative and improvise in the face of AI’s disruptive potential. While the media panel believed film production in Georgia is headed for growth with AI an essential component, Dana Haugaard, professor in Emory’s Department of Film and Media, worried that easy-to-generate AI content might deprive students of the value of the creative process itself, with its inevitable struggles.
“We are creative problem-solvers,” he said. “The process is a huge part of that. Having an idea, failing, the inevitable second failure. The time that takes is one of the most important parts of the artistic process. That's where the interesting things happen.”
On the “AI and the Future of Work” panel, Steven Ferguson, who manages the program in AI for manufacturing at Georgia Tech, had similar concerns that AI might shorten or remove the learning curve for entry-level employees. “How do you get senior-level people?” he asked. “You grow them from entry level. Where AI gets applied is in the repetitive tasks that are often entry-level jobs. AI will create more jobs, but they’re very different jobs. We’re removing the first rung on the ladder. We have to train our workforce to reach a little higher for that first job.”
AI has already made exciting inroads into medicine, especially by recognizing patterns of pathology in medical images with a consistency and reliability humans have trouble matching.
The panel on “Medicine at the Crossroads of AI” wrestled with questions about continuing problems of bias and patient trust. Morris Panner, president of the medical imaging software company Intelerad, praised AI’s initial achievements in medicine, such as its ability to spot subtle patterns in an X-ray image, but thought the real promise is when AI can actually help doctors and patients make medical decisions with high reliability. “We’re not there yet,” he said. "Because AI has the unusual aspect that it sometimes makes strange mistakes.”
Those unresolved challenges underscore why debates about AI’s role are quickly expanding beyond technical circles into everyday life.
“People everywhere are asking what AI means for their work, their communities, their families,” Sutherland says. “I’m happy that Emory was able to create a space for thoughtful, grounded conversations about AI’s role in our future.”
The conference was organized by Emory’s Center for AI Learning, part of the AI.Humanity initiative. Sponsors of the conference include the following: Amazon, Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) at Georgia Tech, Box, City of Atlanta, Georgia Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing, Georgia Film Academy, Rowen Foundation and Snowflake.
View the conference website to see the full agenda.
View a recording of the full conference on YouTube.