Janet Kelso from the Max Planck Institute and Sudhir Kumar from Temple University discussed evolutionary biology in a KAUST Facebook Live interview. Kelso's research focuses on interactions between modern humans and Neanderthals, finding similarities in DNA and benefits for environmental adaptation. Kumar's work, highly cited, involves big data analyses in evolutionary biology. Why it matters: The interview highlights KAUST's engagement with international experts in bioinformatics and evolutionary biology, promoting interdisciplinary research and knowledge dissemination.
Pedro J. Moreno, former head of ASR R&D at Google, presented a talk at MBZUAI on the past, present, and future of speech technologies. The talk covered the evolution of speech tech, his career contributions including work on Google Voice search, and the impact of LLMs on speech science. He also discussed the interplay between foundational and applied research and preparing the next generation of scientists. Why it matters: The talk provides insights into the trajectory of speech technologies from a leading researcher, highlighting future directions and the ethical considerations surrounding AI's impact on society.
An MBZUAI team led by Thamar Solorio and Monojit Choudhury received a Google Academic Research Award to study how AI can better understand and respond to human loneliness in digital spaces. The project will examine how loneliness is expressed online, how conversational agents can detect it, and what healthier AI companionship could look like in collaboration with Georgia Tech. The team aims to define digital loneliness and its expression in online conversations with AI. Why it matters: This research addresses a growing global issue by exploring the ethical and psychological implications of AI companionship, potentially leading to safer and more beneficial AI interactions.
MBZUAI faculty member Ekaterina Kochmar and postdoctoral researcher Kaushal Kumar Maurya won a Google Academic Research Award for their research on an intelligent tutoring system. The project, "2σ-ITS," aims to develop an educational foundation model for personalized learning and to support tutors in reaching students with limited access to mainstream education. The Google award provides funding and collaboration opportunities for researchers, with Kochmar and Maurya being the only team from the Middle East to win. Why it matters: This award highlights the growing recognition of AI's potential to improve educational equity and access in the region and beyond.
This study investigates the correlation between Google Trends data for COVID-19 symptoms and the actual number of COVID-19 cases in Saudi Arabia between March and October 2020. The researchers found that searches for "cough" and "sore throat" were most frequent, while "loss of smell", "loss of taste", and "diarrhea" showed the highest correlation with confirmed cases. The study concludes that Google searches can serve as a supplementary surveillance tool for monitoring the spread of COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia. Why it matters: The research demonstrates the potential of using readily available digital data to augment traditional surveillance methods for public health monitoring in the region.