Successful first MIT-Chile Human Centered AI & Visualization Research Workshop

January, 2023.- With the participation of more than 100 students from different countries, the first first MIT-Chile Human Centered AI & Visualization Research Workshop was held at the San Joaquín campus of Universidad Católica de Chile.

The event featured presentations and talks on topics ranging from bias in natural language, machine learning, brain-computer interactions, and activities from data storytelling to a live electroencephalography demonstration.

The idea to create this workshop originated in early June 2022. Shortly after, the organizers, Denis Parra, Researcher at the Millennium Institute Foundational Research on Data (IMFD) and faculty member at the Department of Computer Science of Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Maggie Hughes, PhD candidate in Media Arts and Sciences at the Center for Constructive Communication at MIT Media Lab, and led by Belén Saldías, Ph.D. Candidate at MIT’s Center for Constructive Communication, began reaching out to sponsors and speakers to organize the event. “Opportunities like this are scarce in Latin America, and even more so those that are free and provide funding for participants in remote regions,” explains Belén Saldías.

The organization designed the daily talks with the goal of motivating participants to join discussions on the cutting edge of human-centered artificial intelligence research. Active learning activities were created, as well as networking opportunities. Participating students received materials prior to the conference to better prepare: they had access to review documents, assignments, personal data visualization exercises, and reflections on research questions.

At the end of the sessions, participants highlighted the opportunity to take part in student-led discussions, which made it possible to make the most of research opportunities and the outcomes of the presentations.

The activity was supported by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT Global Experiences; Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, the National Center for Artificial Intelligence, CenIA; the Millennium Institute in Engineering and Artificial Intelligence for Health, iHealth; the Millennium Institute Foundational Research on Data (IMFD); and with the sponsorship of MIT Media Lab, Agrosuper, Amazon Web Services and HAI-VIS, Human-centered Artificial Intelligence and Visualization group at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.