How will advances in computing transform human society?
MIT students contemplated this looming question as part of the Imagining the Future of Computing Award — an essay contest in which they were challenged to imagine ways that computer technologies could improve our lives, as well as the pitfalls and dangers associated with them.
Offered for the first time this year, the Institute-wide competition invited MIT undergraduate and graduate students to share their ideas, aspirations, and vision for what they believe a future powered by advances in computing holds. Nearly 60 students put pen to paper, including those majoring in mathematics, philosophy, electrical engineering and computer science, brain and cognitive sciences, chemical engineering, urban studies and planning, and management, and entered their submissions.
Students came up with highly inventive scenarios for how the technologies of today and tomorrow could impact society, for better or worse. Some recurring themes emerged, such as addressing issues related to climate change and health care. Others proposed ideas for particular technologies ranging from digital twins as a tool for navigating the flood of information online to a cutting-edge platform powered by artificial intelligence, machine learning, and biosensors for creating personalized narrative movies that help people understand each other through themselves and others.
Conceived by the Social and ethical responsibilities of computing (SERC), a cross-cutting initiative of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing in collaboration with the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS), the intent of the competition was to “create a space for students to think in a creative, informed way. and rigorous understanding of the societal benefits and costs of the technologies that are or will be developed,” says Caspar Hare, professor of philosophy, co-associate dean of SERC, and lead organizer of the Envisioning the Future of Computing Award. “We also wanted to convey that MIT values that thinking.”
prize winners
The contest implemented a two-stage judging process in which all essays were reviewed anonymously by a panel of professors from the university’s MIT and SHASS for the initial round. Three qualifiers were then invited to present their work at an awards ceremony on May 8, followed by a question-and-answer session with a panel of judges and a live in-person audience for the final round.
He winning entry was awarded to Robert Cunningham ’23, a recent graduate in mathematics and physics, for his paper on the implications of a personalized language model that fits to predict an individual’s handwriting based on their past texts and emails. Told from the perspective of three fictional characters: Laura, founder of tech start-up ScribeAI, and Margaret and Vincent, a couple in college who are frequent users of the platform, readers gained insight into the social changes taking place and unforeseen impacts of technology.
Cunningham, who took home the $10,000 grand prize, says he came up with the concept for his essay in late January while thinking about the upcoming release of GPT-4 and how it might be applied. Created by the developers of ChatGPT, an AI chatbot that has captured the popular imagination for its ability to mimic human-like text, images, audio, and code, GPT-4, which was introduced in March, is the newest version. from OpenAI. language model systems.
“GPT-4 is wild indeed, but some rumors before its release were even wilder, and I had a few long plane rides thinking about it! I enjoyed this opportunity to solidify a vague notion into a piece of writing, and since some of my favorite works of science fiction are short stories, I thought I’d take the opportunity to write one,” says Cunningham.
The other two finalists, who received $5,000 each, included Gabrielle Kaili-May Liu ’23, a recent math graduate with computer science and brain and cognitive sciences, for entry on the use of the reinforcement learning technique with human feedback as a tool to transform human interactions with AI; and Abigail Thwaites and Eliot Matthew Watkins, graduate students in the Department of Philosophy and Linguistics, for their joint submission into automated fact checkers, AI-powered software that they say could help mitigate the spread of misinformation and be a profound social good.
“We were very excited to see the incredible response to this contest. It made clear how much MIT students, contrary to stereotype, really care about the broader implications of technology, says Daniel Jackson, a computer science professor and one of the final round judges. “Many of the essays were incredibly thoughtful and creative. Robert’s story was a chilling, but entirely plausible version of our AI future; Abigail and Eliot’s analysis brought new clarity to the harm that misinformation actually causes; and Gabrielle’s article offered a lucid overview of a notable new technology. I hope that we can hold this contest every year and that it encourages all of our students to further broaden their perspectives.”
Fellow judge Graham Jones, Professor of Anthropology, adds: “The winning entries reflected the incredible breadth of our students’ commitment to socially responsible computing. They challenge us to think differently about how to design computational technologies, conceptualize social impacts, and imagine future scenarios. Working with an interdisciplinary panel of judges catalyzed many new conversations. As a science fiction buff, I was delighted that first prize went to such an impressive work of speculative fiction!
Other judges on the panel for the final round included:
- Dan Huttenlocher, dean of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing;
- Aleksander Madry, Professor of Computer Science of Cadence Design Systems;
- Asu Ozdaglar, Academic Vice Dean of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing and Chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science;
- Georgia Perakis, SERC co-associate dean and William F. Pounds Professor of Management; and
- Agustín Rayo, dean of the MIT School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences.
honorable mentions
In addition to the grand prize winner and finalists, 12 students were recognized with honorable mention for their entries, each receiving $500.
Honorees and the title of their essays include:
- Alexa Reese Canaan, Technology and Policy Program, “A New Way Forward: The Internet and the Data Economy”;
- Fernanda De La Torre Romo, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, “The empathic revolution using AI to foster greater understanding and connection”;
- Samuel Florin, Department of Mathematics, “Modeling International Solutions to the Climate Crisis”;
- Claire Gorman, Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP), “AI Grounding: Visualizing Inclusive Computing for Soil Carbon Applications”;
- Kevin Hansom, MIT Sloan School of Management, “Personalized Pharmacogenetic Development and Distribution Model with Quantum Technology”;
- Sharon Jiang, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), “Machine Learning-Driven Transformation of Electronic Medical Records”;
- Cassandra Lee, Media Lab, “Considering an anti-convenience funding body”;
- Martin Nisser, EECS, “Towards custom manufacturing on demand”;
- Andi Qu, EECS, “Revolutionizing Online Learning with Digital Twins”;
- David Bradford Ramsay, Media Lab, “The Perils and Promises of Closed-Loop Engagement”;
- Shuvom Sadhuka, EECS, “Overcoming false compromise in genomics: privacy and collaboration”; and
- Leonard Schrage, DUSP, “Embedded Carbon Computing.”
The Envisioning the Future of Computing Prize was supported by the MAC3 Impact Philanthropies.
