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Initiated in February of this year, the MIT Generative AI Impact Consortium (MGAIC), an initiative under MIT’s Office of Innovation and Strategy and managed by the MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing, has called for proposals, encouraging researchers from all across MIT to submit concepts for groundbreaking projects exploring significant applications of generative AI models.
The call attracted 180 entries from nearly 250 faculty members, encompassing all five schools of MIT and the college. This robust response reflects the increasing interest in AI and follows the occurrence of MIT’s Generative AI Week and the request for impact papers. Fifty-five proposals were chosen for MGAIC’s first seed grants, with additional funding provided by the consortium’s founding corporate supporters.
Over 30 beneficiaries shared their proposals with the broader MIT community during a kickoff event on May 13. Anantha P. Chandrakasan, the chief innovation and strategy officer and dean of the School of Engineering, who leads the consortium, welcomed the attendees and expressed gratitude to the founding industry members of the consortium.
“The remarkable response to our proposal invitation is a significant testament to the enthusiasm and inventiveness that MGAIC has ignited at MIT. We extend our deepest appreciation to our founding members, whose guidance and vision aided in realizing this initiative,” stated Chandrakasan. “A striking aspect of MGAIC is its truly cross-Institute nature. Deans from all five schools and the college joined forces to formulate and execute it.”
Vivek F. Farias, the Patrick J. McGovern (1959) Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and co-faculty director of the consortium alongside Tim Kraska, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), hosted the afternoon of rapid five-minute presentations.
Presentation highlights include:
“AI-Driven Tutors and Open Datasets for Early Literacy Education,” presented by Ola Ozernov-Palchik, a research scientist at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, suggested an enhancement for AI tutors aimed at pK-7 students to potentially narrow literacy gaps.
“Developing jam_bots: Real-Time Collaborative Agents for Live Human-AI Musical Improvisation,” presented by Anna Huang, assistant professor of music and assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science, alongside Joe Paradiso, the Alexander W. Dreyfoos (1954) Professor in Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Lab, seeks to improve human-AI musical collaboration in real time for live performance improvisation.
“GENIUS: GENerative Intelligence for Urban Sustainability,” presented by Norhan Bayomi, a postdoctoral researcher at the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative and a research assistant in the Urban Metabolism Group, aims to fill the critical void of a unified method for assessing and benchmarking the climate policies of cities.
Georgia Perakis, the John C Head III Dean (Interim) of the MIT Sloan School of Management and a professor of operations management, operations research, and statistics, who acts as co-chair of the GenAI Dean’s oversight group with Dan Huttenlocher, dean of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, concluded the event with final remarks that highlighted “the readiness and enthusiasm of our community to take the lead in this domain.”
“This marks just the start,” he remarked. “We stand on the cusp of a pivotal moment — a time when MIT has the chance, and duty, to mold the future of generative AI with intention, excellence, and consideration.”
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