SEATTLE – Artificial intelligence is growing increasingly smarter – perhaps smart enough to provide an aging generation of Americans the opportunity to live out their lives more independently and securely than any generation before them.
As part of the WSU lecture series, “The Innovators,”Diane Cook, Huie-Rogers will discuss her work and her thoughts on AI in the future during her presentation, “Smart Environments: Artificial Intelligence at Home and Beyond” beginning at 11:30 a.m. March 6 at Seattle’s Rainier Club, 820 Fourth Avenue, Seattle.
In less than 35 years, nearly a quarter of the U.S. population will be 65 years or older, and many of those elderly will be physically or cognitively restricted.
Providing this growing population with the assistance it needs to meet the challenges of a changing world will require innovative approaches founded in the advanced technologies of artificial intelligence and machine learning.
A leader in designing new technologies, Diane Cook, Huie-Rogers, chair and professor of electrical engineering and computer science at WSU, she and her colleagues are creating smart environments for hospitals, apartments, airports, workplaces, and other common settings that can reason as intelligent agents to enhance health care, resource management, security, and convenience.
Cook believes smart environments will become increasingly pervasive in our lives. “They will automate our living spaces, increase productivity in our workplaces, and customize our shopping experiences,” she said.
Smart environments are already being used in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of disease. They’re helping people optimize water and energy consumption and providing a variety of safety functions.
Based on the types of experiments and software Prof. Cook is developing at WSU, your home could someday be programmed to tell you when you’re running low on sugar – whether in your cupboard or in your bloodstream. It could also turn off a forgotten stovetop for you or warm up your favorite chair.
