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Electrical and Computer Engineering

AI Month roundup: From ethical algorithms to robots that learn
Photograph of Amy Gutmann Hall

Amy Gutmann Hall will open in 2024 and will be the home of the new B.S.E. in Artificial Intelligence for faculty and students.

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AI Month roundup: From ethical algorithms to robots that learn

During the month of April, Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science showcased a series of news items exploring the evolving world of artificial intelligence.

From Penn Engineering

Penn Electric Racing’s latest race car
A group of students is gathered around a Formula-style racecar at an event.

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Penn Electric Racing’s latest race car

Designed and produced by the School of Engineering and Applied Science’s student-run club, REV9 will compete in the annual Formula Society of Automotive Engineers Michigan race in June.
The hidden geometry of learning: Neural networks think alike
Artificial intelligence of modern technology represented by a brain in laptop.

Image: iStock/jossnatu

The hidden geometry of learning: Neural networks think alike

New research by Penn engineers illuminates the inner workings of neural networks, opening the possibility of developing hyper-efficient algorithms that could classify images in a fraction of the time.

From Penn Engineering Today

Wrestling with academics
Wrestling Adam Thomson stands in the wrestling room at Penn, hands on hips, with a sign reading Quakers behind him.

Second-year wrestler Adam Thomson manages to balance schoolwork, research and international championships that take him all over the globe. 

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Wrestling with academics

As a student in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, second-year wrestler Adam Thomson, an international champion, balances athletics with his research on hyperinflation in Brazil.

Kristen de Groot

New chip opens door to AI computing at light speed
Lit-up lights on a computer chip.

Image: iStock/yucelyilmaz

New chip opens door to AI computing at light speed

A new silicon-photonic (SiPh) chip design from the lab of Nader Engheta, alongside Firooz Aflatouni, uses light waves, the fastest possible means of communication, rather than electricity, to perform mathematical computations.

From Penn Engineering Today

AI security
Digital hands manipulating by a man in the suit. Internet risks, artifical intelligence anxiety concept.

As large language models become increasingly adept at synthesizing information and producing human-like responses, many are concerned that malicious actors may use this technology in dangerous ways. Alex Robey, a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, is developing a first-of-its-kind defense­­, SmoothLLM.

(Image: iStock / Moor Studio)

AI security

As AI gets more adept at synthesizing information and producing humanlike responses, many are concerned that malicious actors may use this technology in dangerous ways. Ph.D. candidate Alex Robey safeguards AI systems against malicious tampering.