In response to a call from MIT President Sally Kornbluth and Provost Cynthia Barnhart, researchers have submitted 75 proposals addressing the use of generative AI. Due to the overwhelming response, a second call was issued, with 53 submissions. A selected 27 from the initial call, and 16 from the second have been granted seed funding. Each project will be given between $50,000 and $70,000 to create a 10-page paper outlining the impact of their research.
The proposals, co-authored by interdisciplinary teams of faculty and researchers, offer insight into the potential uses and effects of generative AI. The proposals cross a broad range of subjects and fields of study. They reflect the research communities’ interest and the caliber of thought behind these concepts, leading to the decision to finance a follow-up round of submissions.
The resulting papers will be distributed widely under the MIT Press via the MIT Open Publishing Services program. The initial round of papers was financially supported by Thomas Tull, an innovation scholar at the School of Engineering and member of the Dean’s Advisory Council.
The successfully funded papers discuss subjects such as end-to-end privacy and verifiability in generative AI, generative AI’s role in scientific discovery, and the creation of new visual intelligence. Other topics included are the value of AI-generated art, improving human interactions, developing a platform and ecosystem for generative AI, and a civic engagement playbook for generative AI in cities.
Further research includes generative AI for advanced textile innovation and biomedical discovery, the impact of generative AI on the creative economy, its role in live music, reflection-based learning with generative AI, and reliable systems for generative AI. There are also investigations into using generative AI to support the aging population, the science of language in generative AI, and the impact of technological shock on visual artists.
