Artificial intelligence’s explosive popularity, its benefits and its risks drive Michigan State University College of Engineering students to refine the technology’s capabilities and push forward with new ideas.
Computer science students Gabriel Sotelo, Mohmmad Alshaikhusain and Sania Sinha recently took their passion for AI globally.
They attended Qatar University’s Future Tech Forum in late October and learned how AI’s impact on everyday life can lead to excitement, concerns, questions and a variety of interpretations.
“It was a great honor to be invited,” said Sotelo, who co-founded MSU’s AI Club in 2021. “We’re looking forward to building on this partnership. Hopefully we’ll move on to something bigger with this.”
Michigan State University was the only U.S. college represented at the forum in Qatar, an Arabian Peninsula composed of more than 2.5 million people, east of Saudi Arabia.
The visiting Spartan engineers – members of MSU’s AI Club – met Qatar University students, networked with corporate and industry partners and attended presentations focused on AI-based topics including data collection, content generation, news gathering and coding.
Experience in Qatar opened Alshaikhusain’s eyes to a different perspective on AI. The native of Saudi Arabia noticed in Qatar that Future Tech Forum attendees tended to be more concerned about data security than some AI experts he’s met in the U.S.
"Now that the AI technology is widespread,” Alshaikhusain said, “we should hold proper discussions over its applications in our society and familiar ourselves with its use so that we may leverage it to its fullest potential.”
All MSU AI Club members – a group that’s more than 300 strong – appear to have the same or similar questions. They are actively involved in studying the latest AI tools and trends. They are split up into project teams that often present their research findings.
During a mid-November meeting in the MSU STEM Teaching and Learning Facility, students gave a presentation on coding-based solutions to improve the accuracy of AI-based online image generators.
Whether it’s overseas or on campus, MSU AI Club members have found value in sharing all their experiences.
The majority of members are undergraduate students, a logical demographic because they could eventually have AI integrated in every part of their lives, said Sinha, the club’s president.
“There’s really no merit to shunning AI,” Sinha said. “I think the issue is more about keeping up with what’s happening with the technology, the latest developments, and putting in safety checks. There’s only so much you can do to stop science.”
MSU AI Club members are always actively searching for networking opportunities and eager to recruit new members. For more information about the club’s events, including workshops and guest speakers, visit msuaiclub.com.
Contact: Eric Lacy, Engineering communications manager, at lacyeric@msu.edu