11 Sep UW computing expert says state ‘very well-positioned’ to lead on AI
The head of UW-Madison’s School of Computer, Data & Information Sciences says Wisconsin is “very well-positioned to be a leader” in AI development.
Remzi Arpaci-Dusseau, a professor in the university’s Computer Sciences Department and a special advisor to the Provost on computing, spoke yesterday during a meeting of the Madison Rotary Club. He discussed the rapid evolution of AI and how UW-Madison can leverage its expertise across various disciplines to play a role in that process.
“We have a great history of innovation and putting innovation into practice in the industry,” he said. “We have a strong group of people that do machine learning, which is kind of at the heart of AI, and that’s across departments. We have strong people who build systems and put what they do into practice.”
Arpaci-Dusseau noted large corporations such as Google and OpenAI are pouring billions of dollars into AI development, “but there is more innovation to be had and we should be a part of that.”
He also weighed in on how AI will impact jobs in computer science, noting he doesn’t agree with the notion that the technology will entirely replace positions in this field. While AI tools are helping people program things faster than they used to, they’re fundamentally not “deeply intelligent,” he said.