The Nature of Artificial Intelligence

This project takes place at a time where the transition towards digitalization is a major topic of public debate and where themes related to artificial intelligence are omnipresent in our daily lives. It aims to present artificial intelligence (AI) to the widest possible audience and offer means to comprehend it beyond simplifying descriptions. The central aspect of this project will consist in the development of six interactive modules to illustrate key AI themes. These interactive modules will exemplify recent research carried out by the applicants at the Idiap Research Institute in Martigny and initiate reflection on the nature and applications of AI. The modules will be hosted within a comprehensive museum exhibit at the Musee de la main UNIL-CHUV in Lausanne where contrasting and complementary elements related to intelligence in living systems and machines will invite visitors to reflect on their perception of AI and on its implications. The modules will be integrated within the organization of the exhibit by key abilities traditionally related to intelligent behavior: learning, identifying, interpreting, interacting, discovering. The robot simulator module will allow programming a virtual robot and demonstrate the challenges of learning from demonstrations. The identity spoofing module will demonstrate the potential risks of locking personal data with biometrics and possible measures to prevent attacks. The speech processing module will demonstrate recent advances in speech recognition and text to speech. The social computing demo will invite the visitor to reflect on AI's ability to accurately recognize human communication skills. Human-machine interactions will further be demonstrated via a module that illustrates the importance of gaze. An imaging module will finally invite the visitor to reflect on the use of image super-resolution techniques for scientific discovery. A booklet and a series of events (participatory workshops, science nights, lectures, and meetings) will complement the exhibit and give the public opportunities to directly interact with researchers. This outreach effort will be targeted at a broad audience, including school-aged children, teenagers, families, the general public, AI enthusiasts, and seniors, with an expected 25'000 to 30'000 visitors over the duration of the project.
Idiap Research Institute
Musee de la Main UNIL/CHUV
Swiss National Science Foundation
Dec 01, 2020
Nov 30, 2023