Dr. Daswin De Silva of Daswin De Silva is Full Professor of AI and Deputy Director of the Centre for Data Analytics and Cognition (CDAC) at La Trobe University, Australia. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Lulea University of Technology, Sweden.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the way we live and work through numerous practical applications of intelligence, insights and decision-making. These generative intelligence capabilities have expanded into industrial applications and systems, leading to many opportunities for innovation in research, development, practice, as well as training and education. For instance, in energy systems, Generative AI can be used to inform decisions on renewables integration, energy conservation measures, energy optimization and predictive maintenance, while across the board in robotics, it is contributing to trajectory planning, state estimation, adaptive vision and human interaction. In parallel to these rapid technical innovations, the risks of AI are also growing. AI that is poorly designed, developed and evaluated without consideration of the broader socio-technical landscape of operation, can result in system failures, service disruptions, security violations and even human casualties. Some experts have also escalated this to a risk of extinction from AI that should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war. I will begin by introducing Generative AI, its composition, capabilities and distinction from conventional AI, followed by its opportunities and challenges in industrial domains. I will also talk about the risks and ethics of AI alongside globally accepted guidelines for responsible practice and development of AI.

Biography:

Daswin De Silva is Full Professor of AI and Deputy Director of the Centre for Data Analytics and Cognition (CDAC) at La Trobe University, Australia. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Lulea University of Technology, Sweden. His expertise is in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data Analytics, Automation and the Ethics of AI, Data and Machines. He received national recognition for teaching excellence in Artificial Intelligence, at the Australian Awards for University Teaching (AAUT) 2021. He also received the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Teaching in 2019 and Research Excellence in 2018. He has co-authored 100+ research articles with an average impact factor of 6.1. He has received AU$ 10.9 million funding (max as lead CI $900k). He has supervised eight doctoral candidates to completion, and currently supervises ten. He is an Associate Editor of the following four journals, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, PLOS One, IEEE Open Journal of the Industrial Electronics Society and Springer Discover AI. Daswin is a Senior Member of the IEEE, where he holds four offices, including General Chair and Program Chair positions of IEEE conferences. His AI expertise and commentary has been featured in the ABC News, Channel 7 News, The Australian, Forbes, Times HE News, Cosmos Magazine and The Conversation. 

Address:Australia