AI helps create better, simpler hepatitis, COVID-19 tests

In AI University, Department of Chemical Engineering, NewsBy Eric HamiltonStory originally published on UF News

Going beyond pregnancy and COVID-19, the world could someday soon come to rely on at-home tests for many diseases thanks in part to AI-fueled improvements. UF scientists have used artificial intelligence tools to simplify a test that works for both hepatitis C and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The simplified test happens in one small test tube in just a few minutes. With further refinement, it could arrive at doctor’s offices soon and, one day, become available as home tests that are as easy as a pregnancy test.

Read Story

Laser Attack Blinds Autonomous Vehicles, Deleting Pedestrians and Confusing Cars

In AI University, Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, In the Headlines, NewsBy Eric HamiltonStory originally published on UF News

New research reveals that expertly timed lasers shined at an approaching lidar system can create a blind spot in front of the vehicle large enough to completely hide moving pedestrians and other obstacles. The deleted data causes the cars to think the road is safe to continue moving along, endangering whatever may be in the attack’s blind spot.

Read Story

UF helps state launch AI curriculum in Florida public schools

In AI University, Community Engagement and Outreach, Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Featured, In the Headlines, News

Florida is among the first states to adopt a K-12 artificial intelligence, or AI, education program designed to prepare its youth for the growing global demand for an AI-enabled workforce. The framework for the public school coursework was designed with help from UF faculty, including Christina Gardner-McCune, who modeled it after the Artificial Intelligence for K-12 Initiative, or AI4K12.

Read Story

Deepfake Audio Has a Tell – Researchers Use Fluid Dynamics to Spot Artificial Imposter Voices

In AI University, Carousel, Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, In the Headlines, News, Security

Patrick Traynor, Ph.D., Professor and John H. and Mary Lou Dasburg Preeminent Chair in Engineering in the Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), and Logan Blue, a Ph.D. student in CISE, write in The Conversation about why detecting audio deepfakes may be even more important than catching video deepfakes.

Read Story

New HiPerGator Simulations “Solve Mother Nature” to Address Real-World Problems

In AI University, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, News

In one of the most intensive uses yet of the University of Florida’s HiPerGator supercomputer, UF engineers have faithfully reproduced the turbulence and complexity of hot air rising along a wall — a previously impossible simulation with applications in home fire safety and heating and cooling. Thanks to dedicated use of 90% of the HiPerGator’s AI cluster over several days, the research team led by UF engineering professor Sivaramakrishnan “Bala” Balachandar was able to track turbulent eddies of air twisting and swirling on the sub-millimeter level.

Read Story

AI Expert Damon Woodard Assumes Directorship of New National Security Institute at UF

In AI University, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Featured, News

Damon Woodard, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has agreed to serve as director of the Florida Institute for National Security (FINS). As part of a new vision, FINS will particularly focus on leveraging the UF AI Initiative to position the state’s flagship university as the nationally recognized premier provider of AI talent for the national security and defense industry, and as an innovation leader in AI-enabled national security.