M.I.T. College plans for artificial intelligence, supported by $ 1 billion

All major universities are wondering how to adapt to the technological wave of artificial intelligence – how to prepare students to exploit not only the powerful AI tools, but also to carefully evaluate their ethical and social implications. A.I. courses, conferences and condominiums have multiplied in recent years.

But the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is taking a particularly ambitious step in creating a new college supported by a planned investment of $ 1 billion. Two-thirds of the funds have already been raised, Mr. I. said by announcing the initiative on Monday.

The $ 350 million donation was donated by Stephen A. Schwarzman, Managing Director of Blackstone Group, the leading private equity firm. The college, called Mr. Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing, will create 50 new faculty positions and numerous other scholarships for graduate students.

It is expected that it will begin in the fall semester next year, housed in other buildings before moving to its new premises in 2022.

The goal of the college, said L. Rafael Reif, president of MIT, is to "train bilinguals of the future". It defines bilinguals as people in the fields of biology, chemistry, politics, history and linguistics. modern computer techniques that can be applied to them.

But, he said, "to educate bilinguals, we must create a new structure."

University departments still tend to be silos, Reif said, despite interdisciplinary programs that transcend department boundaries. Half of the 50 faculty positions will be dedicated to the advancement of computer science and the other half will be jointly appointed by the college and other departments of the I.I.T.

Traditionally, departments make hiring and tenure decisions at universities. For example, a researcher who used AI-based text analysis tools in a field such as history might be considered too informatic by the humanities department and not sufficiently technical by the computer science department. .

MI leaders hope that the new college will change traditional academic thinking and practice.

"We need to review how we recruit and promote faculty," said Martin Schmidt, M.I.T.

Today, most double major programs include courses in a machine learning or computer science department, in addition to a student major. The M.I.T. The University is an effort to integrate computer in the program rather than stapling. It will award diplomas, although they have not yet been determined.

Melissa Nobles, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, said that she saw the new college as an aid to non-computer scientists. tools to their areas – "what they really care about."

Ms. Nobles said the college offers the opportunity for a renewal of social studies at the IMT, where students flock to computer science and engineering.

"We are excited about the possibilities," she said. "This is how the human sciences will survive, not by fleeing the future, but by embracing it."

Both donors and students are more attracted to computer programs than to many other disciplines. But the new college of M.I.T. is designed to spread wealth.

"This is a major fundraising mechanism that gives M.I.T. a tremendous resource to apply A.I. Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Alphabet, parent company of Google, and Visiting Researcher in Innovation at M.I.T.

The college and its goals were shaped by a long conversation between Mr. Schwarzman, the main donor, and Mr. Reif, Mr. TI President. They met for the first time in 2015 when Schwarzman set up the Schwarz Scholars program, which awards scholarships to young people to help them better understand China.

At the time, Schwarzman was increasingly fascinated by the debate over the opportunity and challenge presented by artificial intelligence. A long conversation with Jack Ma, founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, has sparked his interest, Schwarzman said. He continued to talk to experts and read.

"I became convinced that this technology was so powerful that it was really going to remake the world as we know it," he said.

In the next few years, MM. Schwarzman and Reif resumed the conversation about A.I.'s trajectory and its broad impact when their paths intersected in places like New York and Davos, Switzerland.

Over the past year, MIT's leaders and professors have been thinking about planning a future for the university. The university had taken individual initiatives in areas such as the future of work and a research project on human intelligence and machine.

But Mr Schwarzman urged Mr Reif to go further, highlighting the ethical issues raised by automated decision making in all areas, from medical diagnostics to autonomous cars. He also stressed the impact on the workplace.

"We really have to try to understand this technology, not just the consequences," said Schwarzman.

Meanwhile, Mr. Reif is also focused on creating an impact at the university level. His persistent question: "How can I make sure that these tools are used by everyone in all disciplines?"

The new college structure was his answer. Mr Schwarzman said that he would be interested in contributing and that soon after, Mr Reif presented his case.

"Well, that's a big number," said Schwarzman, recalling his initial reaction.

After studying, he said yes.

Mr Schwarzman expressed the hope that the ITM could encourage other investors to invest in IA. future, not just commercially. It highlights the significant efforts made by the Chinese government and notes the fruits of research funded by the US government in the past – technologies that have helped America to take the lead in industries all over the world, from the personal computer to the Internet.

"I think we have fallen behind for some reason," said Schwarzman.