Karina Vold recognized with AI2050 Early Career Fellowship
SRI Research Lead Karina Vold has been awarded an inaugural AI2050 Early Career Fellowship from Schmidt Futures for her research at the intersection of philosophy, cognitive science, and artificial intelligence.
Karina Vold, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto’s Institute for the History & Philosophy of Science & Technology and a research lead at the Schwartz Reisman Institute, has been awarded an AI2050 Early Career Fellowship from Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic initiative founded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
This first cohort of fifteen scholars were selected to “solve hard problems in artificial intelligence (AI) through interdisciplinary research.”
Vold’s research at the intersection of the philosophy of cognitive science and technology, AI and psychology will contribute to progress against these hard problems, which include “solving for the technical capabilities of AI, deploying AI responsibly and harnessing AI for the benefit of society.”
“We hope the research progress of this group of exceptional, multidisciplinary scholars inspires new ideas within the global AI community, enables breakthroughs and ensures a future in which we all benefit from this promising technology,” said James Manyika, co-chair of AI2050, in a press release.
Karina Vold introduces a special event on the social impacts of virtual reality, held at Isabel Bader Theatre in September 2022. (Image credit: Karina Vold.)
Vold is also cross-appointed to the Department of Philosophy and is a faculty associate at the Centre for Ethics. Before joining the University of Toronto, Vold worked as a postdoctoral research associate at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at the University of Cambridge.
“I’m very grateful to receive this support from Schmidt Futures,” Vold said. “Machine systems using artificial intelligence are increasingly able to outperform humans at specific tasks, such as beating world champions at Go and solving 50-year-old grand challenges in biology. It will be important to consider how humans can use these extraordinary performances to gain access to new insights, thereby aiding our own learning and knowledge discovery. My project will draw on a range of fields including philosophy, psychology, history, education and machine learning research, particularly around explainable and interpretable AI.”
Read more about the AI2050 program at Schmidt Futures.
This article originally appeared on U of T’s Arts and Science News and is republished with permission.
