Contributions to this post were made by Yigit Menguc from Oregon State University. The Computing Community Consortium (CCC) recently sponsored a workshop at the 2017 Robotics Science and Systems Conference called Material Robotics (MaRo). The goal of the workshop was to bring together researchers in robotics and materials science to learn from each other and identify the research challenges and applications of robotic materials. The original vision of a “robot” introduced by playwright Karel Čapek in 1920 was that of an autonomous machine molded in the image of humans. Interestingly, the play begins with a discussion of the materials that make up the robots and introduces the techniques used to […]

The Thirty-Second AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence will be held in New Orleans, Louisiana on February 2-7, 2018. The purpose of the AAAI conference series is to promote research in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and foster scientific exchange between researchers, practitioners, scientists, students, and engineers in AI and its affiliated disciplines. AAAI-18 will continue the tradition of previous AAAI conferences with technical paper presentations, invited speakers, workshops, tutorials, poster sessions, senior member presentations, competitions, and exhibit programs, all selected according to the highest standards. AAAI-18 will also include additional programs for students and young researchers. Important Dates for the AAAI-18 Conference July 1 – September 8, 2017: Authors register on the AAAI web […]

The Computing Community Consortium (CCC) is sponsoring a Blue Sky Ideas Conference Track at the Material Robotics (MaRo) – Bridging Materials Science and Robotics Workshop on July 15, 2017, which is part of the 2017 Robotics: Science and Systems Conference in Cambridge, MA. Description of the MaRo Workshop:  The original vision of a ”robot” introduced by Karel Capek in 1920 was that of an autonomous computing machine molded in the image of humans. Interestingly, the play begins with a discussion of the materials that make up the robots and introduces the techniques used to spin and extrude such materials into synthetic body parts and squishy computers. Apparently, it was intuitive to […]

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) just released a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) on Lifelong Learning Machines (L2M) with a June 21, 2017, response date. DARPA is soliciting highly innovative research proposals for the development of fundamentally new machine learning approaches that enable systems to learn continually as they operate and apply previous knowledge to novel situations. Current artificial intelligence (AI) systems only compute with what they have been programmed or trained for in advance; they have no ability to learn from data input during execution time, and cannot adapt on-line to changes they encounter in real environments. The goal of the Lifelong Learning Machines (L2M) program is to develop substantially more […]

Contributions to the following blog were made by former CCC Chair Greg Hager and Tom Kalil, former Deputy Director for Technology and Innovation in the Office of Science and Technology Policy.   It is clear that Artificial Intelligence is having an impact on society and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future, in ways we cannot even imagine today. Through its AI and Robotics Task Force, the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) seeks to articulate the unique research challenges and under-recognized opportunities in AI. This includes a recent addition to the website entitled “AI for Good: Maximizing the economic and societal benefits of AI” authored by Tom Kalil, former […]

It was just announced that Eric Horvitz, former Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Council member and current Co-Chair of the AI and Robotics Task Force, is the new head of Microsoft Research. Yesterday, it was announced that Jeannette Wing was leaving to lead Columbia’s Data Science Institute. Horvitz has long been a leading voice in AI safety and ethics. Recently, he announced the new Partnership on AI that consists of a consortium including Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Facebook, and IBM. The goal of the partnership is to bring industry together to talk about the use of AI for humanity’s benefit. From Quartz: Horvitz wants to fundamentally change the way humans interact with machines, whether that’s building a new way […]