Each year the AAAI recognizes a group of individuals who have made significant, sustained contributions to the field of artificial intelligence by appointing them as Fellows. Over the course of the next few months, we'll be talking to some of the 2024 AAAI Fellows. In the first interview in the series, we met Professor Mausam and found out about his research, career path, mentorship, and why it is important to add some creative pursuits to your life. I am professor at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, in the Computer Science department. I also have a secondary appointment with the Yardi School of Artificial Intelligence.

The Black in Robotics organization helps young BIPOC students pursue STEM education opportunities and careers.

Speech recognition technology is finally working for kids. That wasn't the case back in 1999, when my colleagues at Scholastic Education and I launched a reading intervention program called READ 180. We'd hoped to incorporate voice-enabled capabilities: Children would read to a computer program, which would provide real-time feedback on their fluency and literacy. Teachers, in turn, would receive information about their students' progress. Unfortunately, our idea was 20 years ahead of the technology, and we moved ahead with READ 180 without speech-recognition capabilities.

As 2018 continues on its downward slope toward a new year, artificial intelligence technologies are becoming more and more useful in every aspect of our lives. Just look around: They're in our smartphones, our social networks, our home smart speakers, our personal vehicles--you name it, there's AI at work somewhere. In fact, experts predict they will only become more prevalent in both our personal and professional experiences, and that's not much of a stretch to believe. Now, as with any newly widespread technology, we're confronted with a global need to make best of use of all this new IT; specifically, how to educate our communities on how to apply guard rails that will ensure the use of AI as both ethical and beneficial to all. There are lots of questions to be answered here; we can only get to a few right now.

Artificial intelligence has gone mainstream. It's already integrated into our everyday lives, with realistic voices responding to questions and requests. For a while now, we have been able to get reminders for appointments, encouragement for fitness routines, and remote control over household lights and appliances. But can these devices be useful in schools? In addition to being sources of factual information, can they enhance thought-provoking activities?

Beginning in February, Microsoft plans to offer a new feature for young students: Immersive Reader dictation, a new feature within Office 365 apps for Windows and the Mac. As a parent of two elementary school students, though, I'm concerned this feature will be an unwelcome crutch. Microsoft is pushing dictation onto Word for Mac, iPhone, Outlook Desktop, OneNote iPad, and OneNote Mac. Even though I write about technology for a living, I'm sort of feeling my way through applying it toward parenting. Is a smart speaker an annoyance or a learning aid?

Summary: Bengaluru: Google on Friday launched a day-long Mobile Developer Fest here to train young students in the latest mobile technologies. The event will also provide an opportunity for students to become part of Google Developer Student Clubs and University Innovation Fellows. Students can also participate in hands-on code labs sessions, and learn directly from Google certified developers. The event, which aims to train two million developers in the country, was conducted at the CMR Institute of Technology. The day-long fest gave computer science and engineering students insights across multiple product areas like Machine Learning, Firebase, Android and Progressive Web Apps. Bengaluru: Google on Friday launched a day-long Mobile Developer Fest here to train young students in the latest mobile technologies.