News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Technology educators from ten universities statewide looked at ways to improve artificial intelligence instruction during a Tennessee Tech conference.
The 2024 AI Across Tennessee Symposium featured ideas and discussion. Doug Talbert is Co-Director of Tennessee Tech University’s Machine Intelligence and Data Science (MInDS) Center. He said the big takeaway from the conference is universities want to collaborate to provide better programs for students.
“No school can be experts in everything,” Talbert said. “So there are things happening at MTSU, UT Knoxville, or Memphis that are different than that are happening at Tennessee Tech. Sometimes we have students who are looking for a particular experience.”
Talbert said the conference will create better opportunities for faculty and students.
“Just the sharing of ideas and connecting across the campuses is going to open up doors for new larger scale opportunities for both the faculty and more importantly the student,” Talbert said.
Tech’s Machine Intelligence and Data Science (MInDS) Center was launched in August of 2023. Talbert said after UT Knoxville reached out about hosting the event they thought it would be a big opportunity to get exposure for the school.
“We were looking to increase the visibility of AI on our campus,” Talbert said. “Our MInDS center is a brand new center and we are very eager to lead in some regional efforts in AI and AI workforce development. We saw this as an opportunity for us to really take a visible role in leadership in AI across the state.”
Tech is using AI to improve wildlife management, help with military applications, cybersecurity, and evaluate the implications of certain construction structures. Talbert said AI has existed for many years but has recently exploded in front of the public eye. Talbert said AI is still at the tip of the iceberg but expects more advancements moving forward.
