Artificial intelligence took center stage at last Saturday’s Tech for Global Good awards ceremony. The ceremony also included the awarding of the James C. Morgan Global Humanitarian Award to computer scientist Fei-Fei Li, known as the “Godmother of AI.”
Lee is the founding co-director of the Stanford Human-Centered AI Institute, and her research has focused on the ethical use of artificial intelligence as a force for positive change.
“The work of all the technology award winners is so inspiring,” Lee said in a conversation with Vilas Dhar of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation. “It gives me great hope to see young generations tackling issues that embody the best parts of our humanity. All of the award winners are committed to this concept of shared prosperity. I’m here.”
These winners are Watsonville-based Farm-ng, which seeks to use tractors and other robotic machinery to support small-scale farmers. First Languages AI Reality (FLAIR) uses artificial intelligence to save indigenous languages before they disappear. Berkeley-based Earth Species project. Use AI to understand animal communication and bridge the gap between humans and the natural world. India-based Kalia creates jobs for people in impoverished regions, empowering them to do AI-based jobs in their native language using their smartphones.
The emphasis on AI extended to the production of the show as the videos created to introduce the winners also used artificial intelligence. With varying degrees of success, as audiences at the Signia by Hilton hotel learned in a sometimes hilarious behind-the-scenes video. scene video.
Learn more about this year’s winners online at thetech.org or at Tech Interactive’s Tech for Global Good exhibit in downtown San Jose.
Silicon Valley Reverberations: Technology and artificial intelligence are a big part of life in Silicon Valley and increasingly around the world. And this will be featured in the 2025 Silicon Valley Read, which explores the theme “Empowering Humanity: Technology for a Better World.”
As AI rapidly changes our lives, the goal of this year’s program is to get people talking about what that change means.
“We provide books and programs that spark conversations about the potential of AI and encourage everyone to explore these powerful tools,” said Santa Clara County District Library Director Jennifer Weeks, co-chair of Silicon Valley Reads. We are pleased to be able to help them better understand and take advantage of this.”
The three books selected for Silicon Valley Reads 2025, with the theme “Empowering Humanity: Technology for a Better World,” are “Loneiness & Company” by Charlie Dyroff, “The Worlds I See” by Ray Naylor, “Mountains in the Sea”. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
Three major titles have been selected for the program, which begins with a kickoff event on January 30th at De Anza College. One is the science fiction novel “The Mountain in the Sea” by former Santa Clara University professor Ray Naylor. Loneliness & Company is a novel by Charlie Dyroff about a woman tasked with training an AI companion in a near-future New York where loneliness has seemingly been eradicated. In “The World as I See It: Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI,” by Dr. Fei-Fei Li, a computer scientist at Stanford University, she explores the evolution of AI and its potential. I share my personal journey and insights about sexuality.
Selected for young readers are “Someday, Maybe” by Diana Murray, “ARTificial Intelligence” by David Biedrzycki, and “The Wild Robot” by Peter Brown, which was recently made into a hit animated film. Middle School/YA selections are Lindsey Lackey’s “Further than the Moon” and Wendy Hsu’s graphic novel “The Infinity Particle.”
A series of Silicon Valley Reads events will be held in February and March 2025, including author talks, panel discussions, demonstrations, storytimes, and more. The complete schedule should be available at Siliconvalleyreads.org shortly after the new year.
Here are some short films: When Bill Hargreaves and Shinofui Hinojosa launched the San Jose International Short Film Festival in 2009, we were at a time when YouTube was still in its relative infancy and TikTok was still just the ticking of a clock. I didn’t. But as the festival celebrates its 16th edition Thursday at Santana Row, it’s clear that shorts with running times between two and 30 minutes have earned their place in society.
The festival, held at the CineArts Theatre, will feature more than 130 short films organized into 20 screening blocks until Sunday. The opening night event, which begins at 7 p.m., will feature six diverse films, followed by an afterparty at Suspiro. For lineup and ticket details, visit www.sjsff.com.
