LA Tech Week Recap + Responsible AI Symposium

Hey there!

Last week, we hosted AI & Music at FYI Campus during LA Tech week with will.i.am, Parag Mital, K Allado-McDowell, Matthew Adell, and Karen Allen. The discussion was very lively and will.i.am made a bold prediction:

Watch the entire discussion on-demand below and download FYI on mobile to access the AI & Music project.

LAEDC’s Future Forum

On Thursday, Todd Terrazas moderated a panel at the LAEDC’s Future Forum with California State University Dominguez Hills, and Microsoft on the Future of Tech: how AI will impact labor markets and education to create more equitable opportunities for all.

• Mandi Cohen, Managing Director, Deloitte

• Valorie Jones, CTO, Storyfile

• Krystal Rawls – Director, Workforce Integration Network (WIN), CSUDH

• Tim Ryder, General Manager, Microsoft

Heroes and Villains Gen AI Hackathon Winners!

This past weekend at the LMU Playa Vista Campus, the Heroes & Villains Generative AI Hackathon brought together over fourteen teams who all showcased their unique perspectives on the classic theme of heroes versus villains. Great timing right after the Apple Vision Pro announcement!

Below we celebrate the top-performing teams who utilized AI tools to their fullest extent, pushing the boundaries of generative AI storytelling.

Claiming the award for 'Best AI-Generated Visuals', Team Storybook AI built an Asian folklore-inspired interactive storybook. Using Python and Dream Studio, they seamlessly blended text and image generation to bring their hero Hae's journey to life.

'Best AI-Driven Interactions' went to CardAI, who revolutionized the traditional card game by using OpenAI, Blockade Labs, and Stable Diffusion API to create a completely AI-generated virtual environment, allowing players to play against AI opponents in a custom world.

The 'Most Innovative Use of AI' award was scooped by Team Vapor for their audio-based game, 'Hot Line'. Utilizing a diverse range of tools like GPT, MusicGen, and ElevenLabs, they created an immersive, real-world simulation of customer service systems.

The 'Audience Pick' award went to Immerse, an educational virtual world about cancer. Using Unity, Inworld, and OpenAI, the team created AI-powered characters for students to interact with, transforming complex cancer biology into a dynamic educational experience.

And finally, the 'Grand Prize: Best AI Virtual Worlds Demo' went to 'Tales of Mythos'. Their novel client-server model, crafted using a blend of AI technologies, Unity, and Beamable, allowed for a fully playable game with real-time generative AI shaping the spatial environment and the story progression. They even devised a new programming paradigm: Semantic Programming.

The Heroes & Villains Generative AI Hackathon highlighted the extraordinary fusion of technology and creativity, underscoring the untapped potential of storytelling using AI in spatial worlds. We congratulate all the teams for their inspiring contributions!

Responsible AI Symposium

We are hosting our sixth annual Responsible AI Symposium on June 15th in person at LMU Playa Vista and virtually on Youtube.

Since 2018, AI LA has been producing a 'Responsible AI Symposium' to invite academics and industry experts to explore the ethical landscape of AI; what we can do as individuals, and how to address bias, ethics, and privacy, while exploring what a fair, accountable, and transparent AI system looks like.This year we are honored to have U.S. Senator Alex Padilla provide opening remarks and X. Eyeé keynoting at our hybrid event!​PANEL 1: Aligning AI with Human Values

Moderator: Niki Iliadis, Director AI and the Rule of Law, The Future Society​Speakers: ​Michael J. Masucci, Director, EZTV Online MuseumRamsay Brown CEO, Mission ControlSavannah Kunovsky Director, Product & UX for AI/ML, IDEOPANEL 2: Displaced Workers and Disrupted Classrooms: How can our education and labor markets adapt?

Moderator: Scot Pansing, Former Policy Transparency Strategist, Trust & Safety, Google​Speakers:​Aida Rahmattalabi, Research Scientist, Sony Research Dr. Audra Grady Verrier, Associate Vice Provost, Career and Professional Development, Loyola Marymount University  Elizabeth Rothman, Principal Attorney, Law Office of Elizabeth RothmanAnna Farzindar Ph.D., Clinical Professor, Computer Science Department, Seaver College of Science and Engineering, LMU