In early 2023, Professor Alice Oh and her colleagues at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) realized they needed to address the quickly growing interest in OpenAI ChatGPT among KAISTs students.
ChatGPT a tool developed by OpenAI that runs on large language models and generates conversational responses based on peoples prompts could lead to students taking shortcuts in their work but might also offer educational benefits, they reasoned. The group wanted to develop a research project that would engage students in using the technology, so they began thinking about how to develop their own chat application.
We were in a hurry, says Oh, a professor in the KAIST School of Computing. Our semester started in March, and we wanted to have students start using this right away when the semester started.
A solution soon emerged. In April 2023, Microsoft Research launched an initiative that aims to accelerate the development and use of foundation models large-scale AI models trained on vast amounts of data that can be used for a wide range of tasks.
Advancing Foundation Models Research (AFMR) provides academic researchers with access to state-of-the-art foundation models through Azure AI Services, with the goal of fostering a global AI research community and offering robust, trustworthy models that help further research in disciplines ranging from scientific discovery and education to healthcare, multicultural empowerment, legal work and design.
The initiatives grant program includes 200 projects at universities in 15 countries, spanning a broad range of focus areas. Researchers at Bostons Northeastern University are working on an AI-powered assistant designed to appear empathetic toward workers well-being. At Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology in Vietnam, researchers plan to create a fine-tuned large language model (LLM) specifically for Vietnamese. In Canada, researchers at the Universit de Montral are exploring how LLMs could help with molecular design and the discovery of new drugs.
Accessing foundation models can be challenging for academic researchers, who must often wait to use shared resources that can lack the computing power needed to run large models. Microsoft Research created the initiative to give researchers access to a range of powerful foundation models available through Azure and ensure that the development of AI is driven not just by industry, but also by the academic research community.
We realized that to develop AI today, there is really a need for industry to open up capacity for academia, says Evelyne Viegas, senior director of Research Catalyst at Microsoft Research. Those different viewpoints could shape what were doing.
With access to Azure OpenAI Service, which combines cutting-edge models from OpenAI with security, privacy and responsible AI protections offered in Azure, Oh and the KAIST team developed a platform that uses the models underlying ChatGPT for a chatbot to help college students write essays for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) courses. Students often write at night, when guidance from professors or teaching assistants isnt available, Oh says, and EFL students frequently use tools to help navigate the challenges of writing in English.
Ohs team designed the chatbot to answer students questions but not write their essays for them. Over a semester, 213 EFL students used the tool to refine their essays; the platform collected the students questions and essay revisions they made based on the chatbots responses, then Ohs team analyzed the data and published a paper about the experiment.
The researchers found that some students used the platform extensively and incorporated the feedback it provided. Many treated the chatbot like an intelligent peer, Oh says, suggesting that the technology can be a helpful complement to classroom instruction. And since the platform uses GPT-4, a large multimodal model developed by OpenAI that can communicate in multiple languages, students sometimes switched between English and their native language when using the platform, enabling more natural interactions.
The KAIST team plans to expand the platform to creative writing and conversational English classes. Oh sees tremendous potential for generative AI in education, particularly if models can be trained to show students how to reason through problems rather than simply providing answers.
Universities should take full advantage of this and really start to think about how we can use these tools for scientific research and education, she says.
Researchers at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, who received a grant under the Microsoft program, are developing an AI-based traffic monitoring system capable of identifying road congestion and safety hazards. The project is aimed at automating much of the manual work required by traditional traffic monitoring systems.
The researchers used GPT-4 alongside other AI models that rely on traffic data collected by the federal government to analyze traffic patterns and congestion. Users interact with the system through a chatbot and can ask questions about current traffic conditions like how busy traffic is at a particular location or the speed at which vehicles are traveling.
It will make traffic management easier and more efficient, says Tewodros Gebre, a Ph.D. student working on the project.
The system uses GPT-4 to interpret traffic data collected from sensors, drones and GPS, allowing transportation agencies, city planners and citizens who arent necessarily data scientists to quickly get information about traffic conditions through the chat application.
We talk about data equity, and this combination with the chatbot makes the system available to people without them needing to go to this complex model and see whats going on, says Leila Hashemi-Beni, an associate professor in geospatial and remote sensing at the university. People with different skill sets can still get the information they need from this system.
The system, which is still in development, could also help identify the best evacuation routes after a natural disaster, she says.
Its not just transportation. This project has much bigger, broader impact. It gives us the opportunity for cutting-edge research that is very helpful to us as researchers and educators.
A collaboration between astronomers at Harvard University and The Australian National University is leveraging GPT-4 in a different way. Seeking to use LLMs to accelerate astronomy research, the group, called UniverseTBD, developed an astronomy-based chat application that draws from more than 300,000 astronomy papers.
Alyssa Goodman, the Robert Wheeler Wilson Professor of Applied Astronomy at Harvard, says the application could eventually help young astronomers extract key information from academic papers and analyze data to develop their own research and theories.
If you have a really good idea, its very hard to just search the literature and try to find everything, Goodman says. This is sort of like having a super adviser, a brilliant astronomer with an encyclopedic memory who can say, Well, that could be a very good idea and heres why, or Thats likely a bad idea and heres why.
The researchers hope to develop smaller language models for astronomy that will be accessible to astronomers of all levels, says Ioana Ciuc, the Jubilee Joint Fellow at The Australian National University leading UniverseTBD with Sandor Kruk, a data scientist at the European Space Agency, and Kartheik Iyer, a NASA Hubble Fellow at Columbia University.
Our mission is to democratize science for everyone, she says. GPT-4 is a very large language model and it runs on a lot of resources. In our pursuit of democratizing access, we want to build smaller models that learn from GPT-4 and can also learn to speak the language of astronomy better than GPT-4. Thats what were envisioning.
Many of the AFMR research projects focus on using LLMs for a range of societal benefits, from leveraging generative AI to assess pandemic risk to using vision and language models to help people who are blind or have low vision navigate outdoors.
See the rest here:
- Astronomy clubs want to help you enjoy the eclipse safely - NPR - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- You Can See a Rare, Bright Comet This Month. Will It Be Visible During the Solar Eclipse? - Smithsonian Magazine - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Solar Eclipse Path Map Shows States Where Sun Will Be Blocked Out - Newsweek - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Deep-space astronomy sensor peers into the heart of an atom - Space.com - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Physics and Astronomy Colloquium - Professor Paul Cassak; Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia ... - The University of Iowa - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- United Nations prioritizes discussion of Dark and Quiet Skies - Astrobites - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- The burning acid behind ant stings was spotted around two stars - WAPT Jackson - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- The oddities known as Centaurs may sprout their tales after jumping to new orbits - Astronomy Magazine - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Pair of astronomy brothers to host eclipse viewing event - KAIT - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- How to watch the solar eclipse online - Astronomy Magazine - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- How does a black hole get to the center of a galaxy, and does the galaxy revolve around it? - Astronomy Magazine - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- The eclipse gives astronomy clubs an opportunity to shine - Voice Of Alexandria - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- KU Department of Physics & Astronomy professor receives prestigious NSF award for black hole research - Salina Post - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Inspect impressive Mare Imbrium Astronomy Now - Astronomy Now Online - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- The Sky This Week from March 15 to 22: A conjunction of Venus and Saturn - Astronomy Magazine - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Pons-Brooks and M31 - Astronomy Magazine - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- The slightly weird mathematical coincidence behind an eclipse - Astronomy Magazine - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- APOD: 2024 March 17 NGC 7714: Starburst after Galaxy Collision - Astronomy Picture of the Day - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- How to Safely View the Eclipse National Radio Astronomy Observatory - National Radio Astronomy Observatory - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- NOIRLab releases jaw-dropping images, video of remnants from massive star explosion | Astronomy.com - Astronomy Magazine - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- JWST spots oceans' worth of water evaporating from a distant disk - Astronomy Magazine - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Radiation is vaporizing a young star's disk in the Orion Nebula - Astronomy Magazine - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- APOD: 2024 March 12 A Galaxy Shaped Rocket Exhaust Spiral - Astronomy Picture of the Day - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Best laptops for astronomers and astrophotographers in 2024 - Space.com - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Why astronomers are worried about 2 major telescopes right now - Space.com - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- The People Behind Webb | Webb - WebbTelescope.org - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- X-ray image of universe reveals almost 1 million high-energy objects: 'These are mind-blowing numbers' - Space.com - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Galaxy named 'Nube' is almost invisible, baffling astronomers Earth.com - Earth.com - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Giant Star Seen 150 Days Before it Exploded as a Supernova - Universe Today - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- UH astronomer named to prominent national astronomical society | University of Hawaii System News - University of Hawaii - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- The Art of SeeingStates of Astronomy - Announcements - E-Flux - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Pluto isn't really a planet, but it might be Arizona's official state planet - Arizona Mirror - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Did You Know? Stars Near and Far Reveal Their Secrets to CSUN Scientists - California State University, Northridge - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Top 10 space stories of 2023 - Astronomy Magazine - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- How we found the Milky Way's bar: This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher - Astronomy Magazine - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- The best telescope to use with a smartphone - Astronomy Magazine - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- JWST releases 19 awe-inspiring images of spiral galaxies - Astronomy Magazine - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Learning Shines Brightly at SuperKnova National Radio Astronomy Observatory - National Radio Astronomy Observatory - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- The Crafoord Prize 2024 goes to three ERC grantees for their pioneering contributions to astronomy and mathematics ... - European Research Council - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- The Moon's south pole is likely not the safest place for manned missions - Astronomy Magazine - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- The moon could be perfect for cutting-edge telescopes but not if we don't protect it - Space.com - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- February Astronomy: Spot the Milky Way and the Zodiacal Light While the Skies Are Darkest - Coachella Valley Independent - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- You can stream an asteroid whizzing past Earth this weekend - Astronomy Magazine - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Chinese Astronomy at the Royal Observatory | Royal Observatory | Things to do in London - Time Out London - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Astronomers in Chile to scour universe with car-sized mega camera - - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Dark Matter Might Help Explain How Supermassive Black Holes Can Merge - Universe Today - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- How far away is the sun? They went on a perilous journey to find out. - National Geographic - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Scientists spotted an asteroid hours before it burned up over Germany - Astronomy Magazine - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- XRISM Unveils the Invisible: A New Era in X-Ray Astronomy - SciTechDaily - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- New Astronomy Finding Uncovers the Mystery of Star Formation at the Edge of Galaxies - SBU News - Stony Brook News - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- The Future Of Astronomy Lies In Artificial Intelligence - Forbes - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- The 'Super Bowl of Astronomy' begins next week in New Orleans - Space.com - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- Scientific American proposes policing the language of astronomy to make it beautiful and elegant, as well as ... - Why Evolution Is True - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- 'Blob-like' home of farthest-known fast radio burst is collection of seven galaxies - Northwestern Now - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- Astronomers revealed mysterious star formation by hearts of molecular clouds - Tech Explorist - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- Spectroscopic sizing of interstellar icy grains with JWST - Nature.com - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- Kip Thorne and the mind-bending science of Interstellar | Astronomy.com - Astronomy Magazine - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- Here There Be DRAGNs National Radio Astronomy Observatory - National Radio Astronomy Observatory - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- Unistellar's latest smart telescopes take the hassle out of backyard astronomy - Engadget - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- 20 of the best places to view the 2024 total solar eclipse - Astronomy Magazine - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- Northern Arizona astronomy: How old is our third generation sun? - Grand Canyon News - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- Evidence builds that Kamo'oalewa is a chunk of the Moon accompanying Earth - Astronomy Magazine - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- The Sky This Week from January 5 to 12: Visitors to the Scorpion - Astronomy Magazine - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- AAS 243 NRAO Press Announcement - National Radio Astronomy Observatory - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- Your guide to the sky in 2024 - Astronomy Magazine - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- The best binoculars for astronomy in 2024 - Popular Science - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- Are we visible to alien astronomers? This study makes the case - Astronomy Magazine - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- Mystery of Star Formation Revealed by Hearts of Molecular Clouds - National Radio Astronomy Observatory - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- Astronomers Solve the Mystery of Giant Radio Circles - AZoQuantum - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- Early Evolution of Planetary Disk Structures Seen for the First Time - National Radio Astronomy Observatory - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- XRISM's Revolutionary Insights into X-Ray Astronomy - AZoQuantum - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- Vatican's chief astronomer talks about stars, beauty, truth - Aleteia - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- Explore the cosmos in EAC Payson Campus astronomy workshops - Payson Roundup - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- Neptune is more of a greenish blue than is commonly depicted - NPR - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- First Yale Gravitational Wave Symposium sparks research innovation | Department of Physics - Yale University - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- The best expensive telescopes for those ready to splurge - Astronomy Magazine - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- Dinosaurs and a touch of astronomy | Education | paysonroundup.com - Payson Roundup - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- Astronomical Illusions: New Images Reveal What Neptune and Uranus Really Look Like - SciTechDaily - January 10th, 2024 [January 10th, 2024]
- Book Review: Things That Go Bump in the Universe, by C. Rene James - The New York Times - December 16th, 2023 [December 16th, 2023]
- Astronomers discover 25 'stripped stars' that may be a missing link in supernova science - Livescience.com - December 16th, 2023 [December 16th, 2023]