Artificial intelligence in 2021: the AIhub roundup

As 2021 draws to a close, we look back on some of the AI research, news, policy developments and awards that have piqued our interest. We start our round-up with awards, with many prestigious prizes being presented this year. Launched last year, the AAAI Squirrel AI Award recognises positive impacts of artificial intelligence to protect, enhance, and improve human life in meaningful ways with long-lived effects. The winner of the 2021 award was Cynthia Rudin for work in interpretable and transparent AI systems in real-world deployments. The 2021/2022 ACM Athena Lecturer Award went to Ayanna Howard, who was recognised for fundamental contributions to the development of accessible human-robotic systems and AI, and for her efforts to broaden participation in computing through entrepreneurial and mentoring.