Central’s new Artificial Intelligence Corridor, located in the basement of Robert Vance Academic Hall, is home to an AI-powered robotic dog and hopes for a holographic student.
Thomas King, director of auxiliary services and cloud infrastructure, is part of the reason that the 40-pound robotic dog is on campus.
“I’m the one who found it and brought it to the university’s attention, but it was George Claffey who really decided to go forward with it,” King said.
President Zulma Toro rolled out the Presidential Taskforce on Artificial Intelligence to align the corridor with the rapid advancement of AI, according to the university’s website.
“Central was the first public-funded institution of higher education in the state. So, we want to continue to be the first, in many ways,” Toro said in an interview with CT Insider.
The dog can run up to 8 miles per hour and does several tricks that require complex programming. King said despite the rigorous training needed to develop some of the dog’s movements, there are more simple features that cater to students of all learning levels.
“For students who are getting into robotics, who want to learn more about it, it has that low barrier of entry,” King said. “But also, when you want to really dive into the nuts and bolts of it, you have that detailed programming language to really control it.”
King said the future of the AI corridor may include a synthetic hologram human that can assist students and faculty in a variety of ways.
“It can be used as a research assistant,” King said. “So, it has two modes. One is more like a friendly, you know, undergrad student telling you all about the campus, and the other mode is going to be that helpful, grad student type mode.”
The new AI studies minor at Central hosts the innovations in the corridor, but King said these developments will not be limited to those studying AI. King said that psychology courses and the Community Health Education Clinic could strongly utilize the holographic student.
“AI is cross– discipline,” King said. “So going back to the example with the holo-human. Yes, it’s AI, but there’s a psychology application to it. So anywhere where you have that cross-discipline intersection.”
