As part of the Future of Learning and Generative AI Initiative launched last summer by the Office of the Chancellor, the Office of the Provost and the Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Innovation, Vanderbilt recently announced the six recipients of its Generative AI Seed Grants. The grant fund was designed to foster groundbreaking work in large language models (LLMs), like ChatGPT and Bard. Grants were awarded to six projects across five schools, underscoring Vanderbilt’s dedication to pioneering research and application in AI technologies.
The Generative AI Seed Grant was conceived and led by Jules White, associate dean for strategic learning programs and professor of computer science, to encourage innovative research endeavors, curriculum innovations and fresh applications related to generative AI technology.
“Vanderbilt is a leader in interdisciplinary research on generative AI. Many institutions are rushing to train new models, which is like building the ‘engine’ for a car without designing the car around it. Building an engine isn’t enough to solve the important problems in society,” White said. “While other institutions are building ‘engines,’ Vanderbilt is building the generative AI equivalent of cars, transportation systems, safe driving training and traffic control. Vanderbilt researchers are creating the innovations that will solve societal problems, not just provide some extra horsepower.”
Meiyi Ma, assistant professor of computer science: “SimER: An LLM-powered Training Simulator for Call-takers in Emergency Response.”
With support from the chancellor and provost’s offices, the grant launched last September, with the Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Innovation managing the faculty peer review and decision-making process.
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