This project takes place at a time where the transition towards
digitalization is a major topic of public debate and where themes
related to artificial intelligence are omnipresent in our daily lives.
It aims to present artificial intelligence (AI) to the widest possible
audience and offer means to comprehend it beyond simplifying
descriptions.
The central aspect of this project will consist in the development of
six interactive modules to illustrate key AI themes. These interactive
modules will exemplify recent research carried out by the applicants at
the Idiap Research Institute in Martigny and initiate reflection on the
nature and applications of AI. The modules will be hosted within a
comprehensive museum exhibit at the Musee de la main UNIL-CHUV in
Lausanne where contrasting and complementary elements related to
intelligence in living systems and machines will invite visitors to
reflect on their perception of AI and on its implications.
The modules will be integrated within the organization of the exhibit by
key abilities traditionally related to intelligent behavior: learning,
identifying, interpreting, interacting, discovering.
The robot simulator module will allow programming a virtual robot and
demonstrate the challenges of learning from demonstrations. The identity
spoofing module will demonstrate the potential risks of locking
personal data with biometrics and possible measures to prevent attacks.
The speech processing module will demonstrate recent advances in speech
recognition and text to speech. The social computing demo will invite
the visitor to reflect on AI's ability to accurately recognize human
communication skills. Human-machine interactions will further be
demonstrated via a module that illustrates the importance of gaze. An
imaging module will finally invite the visitor to reflect on the use of
image super-resolution techniques for scientific discovery.
A booklet and a series of events (participatory workshops, science
nights, lectures, and meetings) will complement the exhibit and give the
public opportunities to directly interact with researchers.
This outreach effort will be targeted at a broad audience, including
school-aged children, teenagers, families, the general public, AI
enthusiasts, and seniors, with an expected 25'000 to 30'000 visitors
over the duration of the project.