Facebook’s new AI research lab here taps CMU talent

Facebook is setting up an artificial intelligence research lab in Pittsburgh with Carnegie Mellon University robotics experts at the helm.

It’s unclear at the moment how many researchers the Menlo Park, Calif.-based tech giant will hire for the local lab, where it will be located or what the focus will be, but two of the confirmed researchers joining the team could be a hint.

Jessica Hodgins and Abhinav Gupta will work at the lab parttime, confirmed Ari Entin, who heads AI communications for Facebook.

Pittsburgh and Seattle will host the sixth and seventh AI research labs, supplementing existing facilities in Menlo Park and New York City in the U.S., and Paris, Montreal and Tel Aviv abroad.

Ms. Hodgins, a professor in the School of Computer Science and a researcher at the Robotics Institute, will split her time between Facebook and university work. In 2008, she first established the Disney research lab on CMU’s campus, which was closed earlier this year (though the school and company do still have a working relationship).

She is an expert in computer animation, humanoid robotics and human-robot interaction and will be flanked by Mr. Gupta, who also studies human-robot interaction in addition to computer vision and perception.

Amid concerns that Big Tech is poaching university talent at a dizzying pace, Yann LeCun, director of AI research at Facebook, wrote in a post on the social media platform last Friday that it is erroneous to categorize

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The words artificial intelligence have gained heightened visibility in society, given rapidly accelerating technological advances and growing ways and demand to apply large amounts of data in varied fields.

So, perhaps it only makes sense that Carnegie Mellon University, a campus that knows a thing or two about computing and machine learning, would resolve to be ahead of the curve.

Officials with the university and its School of Computer Science on Thursday announced what they say is the nation’s first undergraduate degree program in artificial intelligence (AI).

A statement from the university says its intent is to give students indepth understanding of “ways to transform large amounts of data into actionable decisions.”

Officials said the program is intended to meet increased demand both by employers and students who are interested in careers in AI.

“Specialists in artificial intelligence have never been more important, in shorter supply or in greater demand by employers,” said Andrew Moore, dean of the School of Computer Science, in a statement accompanying Thursday’s announcement. “Carnegie Mellon has an unmatched depth of expertise in AI, making us uniquely qualified to address this need for graduates who understand how the power of AI can be leveraged to help people.”

The program is intended to educate students to think broadly about methods that can accomplish a wide variety of tasks across many disciplines, said Reid Simmons, research professor of robotics and computer science and director of the new degree program.

It will focus more on how complex inputs such as vision, language and huge databases can be used “to make decisions or enhance human capabilities,” he explained in a statement.

Students will get the same grounding in computer science and math courses as other computer science students, officials said. But the students also will get course work in AI-related subjects including statistics and probability, computational modeling, machine learning and symbolic computation.

Students accepted by the computer science school as first-year students will be able to enter the AI degree program in their second year. The new program will accommodate up to 100 second-, third- and fourth-year students, or roughly 30 to 35 new students each year, officials said.

The School of Computer Science enrolls approximately 735 undergraduates.