The Computing Community Consortium (CCC) would like to encourage you to consider submitting a proposal to Schmidt Sciences SAFE-AI: Safety Assurance through Fundamental Science in Emerging AI program. The SAFE-AI: Safety Assurance through Fundamental Science in Emerging AI program seeks research proposals to advance the science of AI safety.  According to the request, the goal of the program is to deepen our understanding of the safety properties of systems built with large language models (LLMs) and to develop well-founded, concrete, implementable technical methods for testing and evaluating LLMs.  “The program will improve understanding of the relationships between and implications of various testing methodologies, grow the technical AI safety academic community, […]

An incident involving an Indiana University student who was turned away from the polls due to a software glitch has sparked significant conversation about the integrity and accessibility of the voting process. Here are the key computing takeaways from an article written in The Herald-Times.  Networking Issues The main problem lies in our reliance on networked systems to manage voter information. If these systems don’t update quickly, voters might find themselves unable to prove their eligibility. This is particularly challenging for people who move around frequently and have to update their voting information, like students, who often move and might not be registered at their permanent address. Provisional Ballots When […]

CCC is pleased to announce that last week council members Michela Taufer and Chandra Krintz published an article in Inside AI News to discuss their upcoming panel at the 2024 Supercomputing Conference. As members of the Task Force on Sustainability and Climate Resilence, they are excited to be given a platform at the SC24 conference. Here is a sneak peek at one of the questions they would like leaders to consider before this panel discussion in November. How can AI continue to drive innovation while minimizing environmental harm? By now, we can all agree that AI has enormous potential, but we must ask ourselves whether the growing environmental cost of […]

The Computing Community Consortium (CCC) would like to encourage you to consider responding to the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Request for Information (RFI) on a National Plan for Cyber-Physical Systems Resilence.  The NITRD National Coordination Office seeks public input for the creation of a National Plan for Cyber-Physical Systems Resilience Research. According to the request, the goal of the plan is to shape a whole-of-government research and development (R&D) plan related to cyber-physical resilience across systems that may be local, regional, or national in scope. Interested individuals are invited to submit comments on or before 11:59 p.m. ET on October 26, 2024 via email. To find […]

CCC’s mission is to catalyze computing research, and we are always on the lookout for ways to promote visioning about the future of computing across disciplinary boundaries. When I was at the 11th Heidelberg Laureate Forum in Germany, I asked many of the laureates, all of whom have been awarded prestigious prizes in computing based on their groundbreaking technical advancements, about how they collaborate with diverse groups of experts. In response to my question about the best way to collaborate across disciplines and promote visionary thinking, Dr. Vint Cerf, widely known as one of the “fathers of the internet”, first emphasized the importance of in-person collaborations: “It’s when people are […]

In July 2024, the Computing Research Association Working Group on Socially Responsible Computing Subcommittee on Best Practices for Conference released a whitepaper to guide conference organizers in developing responsible computing policies by outlining key areas where attention seems necessary. This comes at a time when many, but not all, computing research conferences are increasingly incorporating ethical and societal considerations into their submission guidelines.  Here are some ways conferences can help promote responsible research and publication practices. Include guidelines on avoiding research-related harm. Guide responsible disclosure of vulnerabilities in submissions. When appropriate for human-centered research, require Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval or equivalent review. Promote reproducibility by requesting public release of […]