AIC Conference 2024 Held at Hiyoshi Campus Kyoseikan

On Thursday, March 7, the Keio AI and Advanced Programming Consortium (AIC) hosted the AIC Conference 2024 in the AIC Lounge and multi-purpose classroom on the second floor of the Kyoseikan on Hiyoshi Campus. Last December, AIC moved its base of operations from Yagami Campus to Hiyoshi Campus Kyoseikan with the establishment of the AIC Lounge and the Generative AI Lab, which will serve as a base for education and research related to AI. This conference, which also served as the formal unveiling of the AIC Lounge and the Generative AI Lab, aimed to discuss and share AI-related research initiatives, in both the humanities and the sciences, with people from within and beyond Keio University.

Professor Takahiro Yakoh from the Graduate School of System Design and Management, who serves as the representative and chair of the AIC Steering Committee, kicked off the event with his opening remarks, saying, "For this year's conference, we are honored to have professors who are conducting research in generative AI at Keio here today to share with us their insights. We hope you will enjoy the presentations. "Keio University President Kohei Itoh then briefly reflected on the activities at AIC over the past five years, stating, "Up to now, students at AIC have taught and learned from each other programming, applications of AI, and mathematics necessary for data science, among other things, and in doing so, have enhanced each other's skills and knowledge."In his opening address, President Itoh further remarked, "The world of AI will rapidly evolve in the future, and it will be important to not only acquire skills and apply them, but also to discuss new technologies and the legal aspects of AI. Today's conference is a forum to spearhead such discussions. I look forward to seeing what topics will be discussed."

Following that, the lecture session featured a variety of AI-related presentations by eight faculty members, including Professor Komei Sugiura from the Faculty of Science and Technology, who also serves as the vice-chairman and steering committee member of AIC, among others from the Faculty of Law, Faculty of Letters, and the Faculty of Science and Technology. Professor Yuko Kimijima from the Faculty of Law delivered a lecture titled, "What is Intellectual Creation－Generative AI and Intellectual Property Law,"where she spoke on why we protect intellectual property, who are being protected, and whether property created by AI should be protected in the same manner as those created by humans. Next, Associate Professor Sayaka Suga from the Faculty of Letters delivered her presentation titled, "Building Relationships with Conversational AI and Perceptions of Reality,"where she talked about how people experience a subjective shared reality with conversational AI, build good relationships with it, and trust it as a source of information to perceive reality. Participants deepened their understanding of AI as they enthusiastically asked questions and actively took down notes.

After that, the session shifted to the multi-purpose classroom, where ten students presented their posters. The atmosphere at the venue was one of excitement and enthusiasm as presenters and participants engaged in a lively Q&A session.

After the conference, a post-event reception was held where participants mingled amidst a congenial atmosphere and engaged in wide-ranging discussions on the evolution of AI technology, expectations for its real-world implementations, as well as the accompanying impact and challenges it will pose for society.

Photo: Aki Takematsu