Shorter Security Lines, Healthcare for the Underserved and More Thanks to AI| AITX Newsletter #14

Hello everyone! AITX Team here with more updates this week.

If you’re new here, welcome! 👋 At AITX, we aim to:

• Connect you with like-minded peers passionate about AI.

• Provide a space for sharing ideas and receiving feedback on AI projects you’re building.

• Share helpful tools and invaluable resources.

UPCOMING EVENTS

AI & Meditation Meet Up: Understand The Future by Being Present 🧘 

• When: Thursday, April 18 | 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM CST

• Where: WeWork Office Space & Coworking 10900 Stonelake Blvd Building 2, Suite 100 · Austin, TX

• What: The World Economic Forum estimates that AI will replace 85 million jobs by 2025, leading to significant changes in society within the next 2 to 5 years.

  In light of this, it is crucial to explore critical questions about:

  • staying present

  • leveraging AI for a better future

  • coexistence of ancient introspective traditions and AI

  • the future of humanity

    and much more…

  These topics and more will be discussed at a groundbreaking meet-up led by Brandon Mehrgut, founder of Austin's Meditation Meet Up, Zission: Zen Vision, and Modern Mindfulness, featuring an interactive talk, Q&A, brainstorming, and relaxed networking.

ESI UT Austin - Robotics and AI - In Person 🤖 

• When: Friday, April 19 | 7:00 PM - 8:15 PM CST

• Where: Department of Chemistry 105 E 24th St · Austin, TX

• What: Read their event page because everything is not yet finalized but…

  ESI has this to say.:

  Save the date for April 19th! Dr. Peter Stone will share about the past, present, and future of AI and robotics. Registration will be available three weeks prior to each talk.

Hacky Hour for Austin LangChain Users Group 🦜 

• When: Wednesday, April 17 | 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM CST

• Where: Central Machine Works 4824 E Cesar Chavez St · Austin, TX

• What:

  • Open Lab Time: Our core group will be actively working on LangChain projects. Feel free to dive into your own work or collaborate with others.

  • Networking: Meet and connect with fellow LangChain enthusiasts in the Austin area. Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, there’s something for everyone.

  • Learn and Share: Exchange tips, tricks, and insights on utilizing LangChain technology to its fullest potential.

LLMs, Graph Databases and RAG in the Cloud 🕸️ 

• When: Thursday, April 18 | 4:00 PM - 6:30 PM CST

• Where: 901 E 5th St. 901 E 5th St. · Austin, TX

• What: You will learn about RAG from two veteran speakers who have been presenting about RAG for the past year: Jason Koo, Neo4j Developer Advocate and Michael Ryan, Neo4j Field Engineer. Google speaker to be announced.

Generative AI Social 🍸️ 

• When: Thursday, April 18 | 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM CST

• Where: Panera Bread 9901 N Capital of Texas Hwy Suite 100 · Austin, TX

• What: Socialize with other AI enthusiasts and talk about generative AI and its applications.

COMMUNITY STORIES

AI-Powered Security Lanes Speed Up Entry at 2024 CMT Music Awards in Austin

The 2024 CMT Music Awards in Austin are using a unique security tool that involves artificial intelligence (AI) to reduce long lines at the event.

Xtract One Technologies' SmartGateway lanes, first introduced at the Moody Center in 2022, use AI technology and purpose-built sensors to detect weapons, eliminating the need for people to empty their pockets of phones, wallets, and other metal objects.

The AI software can determine the likelihood of an object being a gun and alert security staff for secondary screening.

This technology significantly reduces wait times, cutting a potential two-hour security line down to just 22 minutes during a Harry Styles concert at the Moody Center in 2022.

CEO Paul Evans believes this technology is perfect for Austin, especially during the hot summer months.

Read more here.

Conference Explores Inclusive AI Integration in Healthcare for Underserved Communities

The IC² Institute at UT recently hosted the AI Health for All conference to discuss the implications of integrating AI into healthcare.

The event brought together researchers, health professionals, and community leaders, with a panel focused on designing an inclusive health AI for all.

Zainab Garba-Sani, a Stanford researcher specializing in health AI policy and implementation in the UK, emphasized the importance of understanding the barriers and concerns of underserved communities when it comes to AI.

Her research reveals that certain ethnic backgrounds perceive AI more negatively, which can lead to underrepresentation in health data sets and perpetuate health disparities.

Jo Carcedo, a former philanthropy leader, stressed the need for intentionality in including diverse communities in healthcare research data sets to ensure fair representation.

Meme Styles, founder of Measure and vice president of responsible and ethical AI with the Austin AI Alliance, highlighted her organization's efforts to educate underrepresented communities about AI as a health tool, encouraging them to "lean in" to avoid being left out of the design process.

Read more here.

Texas to Use AI for Grading STAAR Test Written Responses, Saving Millions

Texas introduces AI-powered "automated scoring engine" for STAAR tests:

• Grades open-ended questions in reading, writing, science, and social studies

• Follows 2023 test redesign with more open-ended questions

Benefits and process:

• Saves $15-20 million annually on human graders

• Trained on 3,000 human-scored responses

• 25% of responses still rescored by humans for quality control

• AI defers to humans for low-confidence scoring or unfamiliar responses

Concerns and assurances:

• Educators and parents worry about fairness and accuracy

• STAAR results are key to state's school accountability system

• TEA assures robust quality control and reward for originality

School districts adapt and prepare students for new grading system to ensure success.

Read more here.

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHT

Meet Abe Sorock, the founder of LeadersAtlas.

His company uses AI-powered workshops to help corporate teams connect and learn from each other.

These workshops encourage team members to share stories and skills, while the AI helps them focus on unique insights that are engaging and relevant to their colleagues.

The result?

Teams build stronger relationships, explore new ways to improve performance, and do more of what works.

LeadersAtlas began in Beijing's expat community and has since expanded to serve leaders and teams across the US, Europe, and Asia.

Abe moved to Austin in 2022 and loves bringing his remote team to experience the city's vibrant and welcoming tech scene.

Give him a shout if you want to connect!