An upcoming free, one-day conference on emerging technologies will focus on artificial intelligence and feature talks by top experts from H2O.ai, CGI, and Vandersall Collective, among others. The event is open to the public and offers raffle prizes and networking opportunities.
Emerge 2023: I, Chatbot is Saturday, April 8, from 10:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. The conference is hosted annually by the Vanderbilt University’s Women in Computing student organization. It will be held in the university’s Featheringill Hall and registration is required.
Chatbots–also known as conversational agents–are software applications using artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) to mimic written or spoken human speech for the purposes of answering user questions with instant messages. The chatbot industry is growing rapidly as demand increases for personalized customer service and 24*7 support in health care, retail, and others.
Emerge organizers say the conference will tie AI and technology to human needs, feedback loops, new engagement models and examine the role of humans as creators, composers, companions, and users of next-generation chat and voice bots/beings. Emerge brings together students, educators and entrepreneurs and the public to learn more about emerging technologies.
“The emergence of GPT4 has shown that artificial intelligence is going to change our lives forever. The Emerge event will help us learn more about this fascinating technology,” said Gloria Zhang, executive director of the Emerge Board and a computer science student.
The schedule is as follows:
- 10:30 – 11 a.m., Check in and free promotional items, Adams Atrium, Featheringill Hall
- 11 a.m. – Noon, Does AI become more ‘human’ if it’s a gender? CGI Director Consulting Expert Gary Jackson and Wazina Zondon, project manager, Vandersall Collective
- 12:10 – 1:10 p.m. Towards verified AI for Smart Cities, Computer Science Professor Meiyi Ma, Vanderbilt University
- 1:10 – 2 p.m. Lunch provided
- 2-2:20 p.m. Get to know Capital One, and Q&A with conference sponsor,
- 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. How AI is revolutionizing conversational experiences, Prashant Natarajan, senior director and product maker, H20.ai
- 3:40 – 4:40 p.m. Why it matters and why everyone will learn prompt engineering, Computer Science Associate Professor Jules White, Vanderbilt University
- 4:40 – 5 p.m. Networking with sponsors’ representative & Bose Soundbar raffle
Attendees will be able to connect with each other and technology leaders during a dedicated networking session after the final keynote. Student attendees can take advantage of a “resume drop” by uploading their resumes during registration.
Gary Jackson has more than 20 years of experience in data science and has led AI teams across the globe. At CGI, uses data to drive product strategy. Wazina Zondon is a New York City-based educator, trainer and professional speaker who focuses on intersectional identities.
Prashant Natarajan is a leader and innovator in business and AI. He has held positions at Deloitte, Oracle, and Mckessons, among other. At H2O.ai, he works to find solutions at the intersections of health, government, and technology. He has been a co-faculty instructor at Stanford and served on Rutgers University’s Big Data Advisory Board.
Professor Jules White recently co-hosted a webinar on ChatGPT-Why it Matters. White’s research focuses on cyber-security and mobile/cloud computing in domains ranging from healthcare to manufacturing. Professor Meiyi Ma develops robust AI to build reliable cyber-physical systems, especially in health care and Smart Cities, a technologically modern urban area that uses different types of electronic methods and sensors to collect specific data.
Contact: Brenda Ellis
brenda.ellis@vanderbilt.edu