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Students Reveal Innovative Applications for AI and Machine Learning

August 20, 2019

Could AI be used to help rid the ocean of trash? Can machine learning prevent thousands of unnecessary deaths from pharmaceutical mistakes? These are just some of the questions explored by a group of Palm Beach County high school students who have just completed the first-ever Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience (MPFI) AI and Machine Learning Summer Camp. In presentations given on Friday, August 19, 2020 the students discussed individual projects that included topics like:

  • Identification of trash in the ocean to aid automated cleaning robots
  • Automatic categorization of medications to avoid deadly pharmaceutical mistakes
  • Detection of agricultural pests in order to boost food production
  • Technology to reduce traffic accidents caused by distracted driving

Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, in partnership with the Machine Perception and Cognitive Robotics Lab at FAU, is one of only a handful of organizations nationally that is offering cutting-edge training in AI, Machine Learning, and Data Science to students as young as 14. Students were admitted to the three-week camp based on academic achievements and there was no charge for them to participate.

“I believe this program represents a new model of what education can look like: exposing talented young minds to the absolute cutting edge in science and AI so that they are prepared to shape the future of research, technology and entrepreneurship,” said Dr. Elan Barenholtz, one of the summer camp instructors and the director of the Machine Perception and Cognitive Robotics Lab at FAU. “It is extremely exciting to be part of the growing partnership between FAU and the Max Planck Florida Institute which will be critical in fostering innovation in Palm Beach County and the broader region”