Researchers Present Bold Ideas for AI at MIT Generative AI Impact Consortium Kickoff Event
MIT’s Generative AI Impact Consortium (MGAIC), launched in February, recently showcased groundbreaking research proposals at its kickoff event on May 13. The presidential initiative, spearheaded by MIT’s Office of Innovation and Strategy and administered by the MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing, invited researchers across MIT to submit innovative projects focusing on high-impact applications of generative AI models.
The call for proposals garnered an impressive 180 submissions from nearly 250 faculty members, representing all five of MIT’s schools and the college. This overwhelming response underscores the growing enthusiasm for AI, building upon the momentum from MIT’s Generative AI Week and the call for impact papers. Ultimately, fifty-five proposals secured MGAIC’s inaugural seed grants, with additional projects funded by the consortium’s founding company members.
Anantha P. Chandrakasan, chief innovation and strategy officer and dean of the School of Engineering, who leads the consortium, welcomed attendees and expressed gratitude to the founding industry members. He noted, “The amazing response to our call for proposals is an incredible testament to the energy and creativity that MGAIC has sparked at MIT. We are especially grateful to our founding members, whose support and vision helped bring this endeavor to life. One of the things that has been most remarkable about MGAIC is that this is a truly cross-Institute initiative. Deans from all five schools and the college collaborated in shaping and implementing it.”
Vivek F. Farias, the Patrick J. McGovern (1959) Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and co-faculty director of the consortium with Tim Kraska, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science in the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), moderated the event, which featured rapid-fire, five-minute presentations.
Several presentations highlighted innovative AI applications:
Ola Ozernov-Palchik, a research scientist at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, presented “AI-Driven Tutors and Open Datasets for Early Literacy Education,” proposing enhancements to AI tutors for pre-kindergarten through 7th-grade students to potentially reduce literacy disparities.
Anna Huang, assistant professor of music and assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science, along with Joe Paradiso, the Alexander W. Dreyfoos (1954) Professor in Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Lab, presented “Developing jam_bots: Real-Time Collaborative Agents for Live Human-AI Musical Improvisation,” aiming to improve real-time human-AI musical collaboration for live concert improvisation.
Norhan Bayomi, a postdoc at the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative and a research assistant in the Urban Metabolism Group, presented “GENIUS: GENerative Intelligence for Urban Sustainability,” which seeks to address the current lack of standardized approaches to evaluate and benchmark cities’ climate policies.
Georgia Perakis, the John C Head III Dean (Interim) of the MIT Sloan School of Management and professor of operations management, operations research, and statistics, who co-chairs the GenAI Dean’s oversight group with Dan Huttenlocher, dean of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, concluded the event, emphasizing the community’s enthusiasm to lead in the generative AI space.
“This is only the beginning,” Perakis stated. “We are at the front edge of a historic moment — one where MIT has the opportunity, and the responsibility, to shape the future of generative AI with purpose, with excellence, and with care.”
