PROVIDENCE, R.I. – February 9 – Gaurav Khanna, physics professor and assistant vice president of research computing, and Indrani Mandal, computer science and statistics professor, and Gabriele Fariello, Chief Information Officer, were invited to the Rhode Island State House on February 3 to present on emerging technologies and artificial intelligence to the Senate Committee for AI.
The committee prioritizes the safety of Rhode Islanders and intends to protect constituents from the negative impacts of technology and AI, including privacy concerns, job loss, overuse, and misuse. Senator Victoria Gu, from the South County area, chairs a subcommittee and invited Khanna and Mandal to present on where these technological advancements are heading and what the University of Rhode Island is doing in the AI space regarding investment, preparing students for the workforce, and logistical use for the university.
“It was more engaging than we anticipated. The committee members are not AI experts, but they are very curious and open to learning more,” said Khanna.
The presentation included three learning demonstrations, led by Mandal. One examined how AI can independently make decisions along with the user, as if it were a colleague or collaborator. In this circumstance, AI is assigned a broad task and can complete it independently while keeping the human in the loop. Another exemplified Chain of Thoughts (CoT), in which the user asked the AI to reason through something step by step. By doing so, it tends to make fewer mistakes and guesses. The third introduced Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) or retrieval messages, in AI, from a vast pool of data, helping the user find specific information that would be difficult to find with a simple search.
Two years ago, the URI provost’s office created a task force with specialized teams dedicated to understanding the impact of AI on university education, research and business operations. Khanna told the Senate committee about the AI programs currently under development and expected to be available to students in a year or so. Research development is also a priority, but the university needs the infrastructure to do so. From a business functional perspective, they are in the process of making the university more efficient through AI-powered business tools.
Overall, the committee is interested in learning more but shared concerns about the environmental and climate impacts and the job losses that come with the expansion of AI.
“We are still grappling with the job loss question and continue to keep that top of mind as we find solutions. It will be an ongoing conversation,” said Khanna.The full presentation is available to view via Capitol TV.