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Booz Allen Hamilton, a global technology consulting firm with expertise in analytics, digital, engineering and cyber technology, has partnered with NCStates Artificial Intelligence (AI) Academy to train their employees to meet a growing demand for talent in the area of artificial intelligence.

The AI Academy is a nationally registered apprenticeship program funded by a $6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor and designed to train individuals to assume roles within the area of artificial intelligence. Carla C. Johnson, Ph.D., a professor of science education in the NCState College of Education, is the principal investigator on the grant and the executive director of the program.

The program began in March 2020 with a 12-month planning period in which industry leaders worked alongside Johnson and collaborators from NCStates Department of Computer Science, including Collin Lynch, Ph.D., Thomas Price, Ph.D., Min Chi, Ph.D., and Noboru Matsuda, Ph.D.

The four-course, 40-week workforce development program has set a goal of upskilling 5,000 individuals to enter the artificial intelligence pipeline, with a specific focus on recruiting veterans, underrepresented workers, underemployed workers, informational technology employees and those seeking an opportunity to move into a different career.

Booz Allens workforce is roughly one-third military-connected, including veterans, Guard members, Reservists and military spouses. While transitioning service members come to the firm with relevant skills based on their military career, the apprenticeship offered as part of the AI Academy will allow these employees to use their military experience while training them for future-focused careers and gaining skills in critical areas.

Data analytics and machine learning skills, coupled with mission understanding from our military veterans, are critical to the future of our nations defense and much of modern industry, said Greg Wenzel, executive vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton, leader of the firms Army business, Global Defense CTO, and executive sponsor of Booz Allens Mil/Tech Workforce Initiative. Companies like Booz Allen need a constant influx of talent in order to help keep America at the forefront. But many of these skills require experiential learning to be useful, so an apprenticeship that combines classroom learning with on-the-job training is really ideal.

Johnson said there are currently too few qualified individuals in the artificial intelligence workforce and a high demand for workers with relevant skills. The AI Academy aims to remedy this gap by providing a streamlined approach to upskilling that is coupled with on-the-job training and mentoring within an employees existing workplace and by giving companies like Booz Allen an opportunity to select employees from their existing talent pool to invest in through training.

The NCState AI Academy is pleased to partner with Booz Allen Hamilton as we share similar missions focused on providing career pathways for transitioning military and veterans into much needed and highly skilled career opportunities. It is so important to support the thousands of individuals who have given so much to our country and we are excited to have Booz Allen Hamilton as our collaborator on this program, Johnson said.

Booz Allens Mil/Tech Workforce Initiative, a series of coordinated efforts to support extended transition from active duty to a civilian career, seeks out innovative programs like the AI Academy and connects transitioning military personnel with them while educating them about skills that are critical for roles in sectors like artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Booz Allen and the AI Academy have further engaged in helping to prepare transitioning service members for careers in the artificial intelligence sector during the Veteran Transition to Tech Networking Event at the North Carolina Military Business Center in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on Aug. 4.

AI Academy Program Director Stacey Smith, Ph.D., spoke during the event, which was co-hosted by Booz Allen and attended by transitioning service members, veterans and military spouses.Our work in the region requires a well-prepared workforce and local installations like Ft. Bragg and Camp Lejeune represent a huge opportunity to help transitioning service members stay in the area while creating a path to future-focused careers, said Jay Dodd, vice president at Booz Allen and a leader in the firms Fayetteville office. We love working with partners like NCState who know the region and are familiar with transitioning military talent, and we are excited for this and future engagements in the region in order to continue building a strong local tech talent pipeline.

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AI Academy Partners with Booz Allen Hamilton To Help Veterans, Transitioning Service Members Grow Skills in Artificial Intelligence - NC State College...

Illustration: Chaitanya Dinesh Surpur

Artificial intelligence (AI) is fast becoming a topic that is relevant to everyone today and, therefore, a subject that everyone ought to learn at least the rudiments of, say experts. From the humble milkman delivering packets of milk to households in the morning to the highest lawmakers and biggest industrialists, AI will increasingly touch everyone.

A lot of people look at AI as a vertical that calls for experts to develop, says Amit Anand, founding partner at Jungle Ventures, a VC firm in Singapore that has invested in several tech startups in India. However, both in his own mind and as an advisor to the Singapore government on the ethical use of AI, We have taken a view that AI is going to affect everybody, and hence everyone should be knowledgeable and have a certain level of understanding of AI.

The government has also complemented this with education at the grassroots level, Anand says, with centres of excellence and so on. The common man should know what happens when an AI programme takes over his loan processing, for example. How do you get the consumers ready for that wave, because its coming, he says.

There has been an explosion of use cases that take advantage of AI across industries, says Sumit Sarawgi, managing director and senior partner at Boston Consulting Group. In parallel, there has been an explosion of data that large companies and their end-consumers are generating, he adds.

This now makes it even more urgent that organisations around the world proactively embrace ways

of using AI in a responsible manner. While on the one hand, AI can make for better quality of services, improve customer experience and boost the financial performance of companies, the need to ensure its responsible use has also increased.

In Europe, for example, the European Union has published proposals for rules on AI, which include banning certain uses of AI, heavily regulating high-risk uses and lightly regulating less risky AI systems. In India, Niti Aayog, a government-backed think tank, released a discussion paper towards a national strategy for AI three years ago. Subsequently, in January 2020, a follow-on paper was also released on developing AI-specific technology infrastructure.

In the past, India didnt capture its share of benefits from technological advancements, such as semiconductor manufacturing, for example. Today, there is recognition that the country cant afford to miss the AI bus.

(This story appears in the 13 August, 2021 issue of Forbes India. You can buy our tablet version from Magzter.com. To visit our Archives, click here.)

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AI Special: Artificial Intelligence Will Affect Everyone. Here's What You Need To Know - Forbes India

Bryson Stemock| Star News

Weve all seen artificial intelligence in sci-fi movies and television. It seems the machines are getting smarter every day! But how can we harness artificial intelligence to help us learn about our universe, and possibly even extraterrestrial life?

Machine learning is a subfield of artificial intelligence that describes how a computer program can take information, identify patternsand learn to identify the important aspects lurking in the data. One example is a neural network (neural because its learning is patterned after the neurons in the human brain). If we give a neural network millions of images of animals and an answer key of which animal is which, the neural network will soon learn to identify animals in pictures. Now give it millions of different pictures of these same animals and it will identify them all for you in a second. Imagine if we unleash that lightning-fast precision learning on the study of the universe.

So how do we teach a machine if we dont have millions of animal pictures on hand? Well, how might we teach a child? If you didnt have a picture book of animals to teach your child, you might draw your own. This isone of the most commonly used solutions in machine learning.If the training data dont exist, we simulate them. In order to properly teach a machine about a topic, well need the most detailed, accurate simulations possible which means that we need to pool our complete knowledge on the subject. Otherwise, it can be easily tricked by lookalikes,such as in the famous dog or food? internet meme. Imagine blueberry muffins masquerading as chihuahuas!

Now consider space: full of stuff like stars and galaxies. Galaxies, including the Milky Way, reside in large halos of gas that astronomers call the circumgalactic medium.Beyond the circumgalactic medium, filaments of gas stretch between galaxies. This gas comprises what we call the intergalactic medium.Together, circumgalactic and intergalactic gas form a large overall structure that astronomers call the cosmic web.The cosmic web, massive filaments of galaxies separated by giant voids, is the structure of the universe.

A powerful technique to reveal the structure of the cosmic web is to observe the light from very distant and very bright objects. As this light travels billions of light years through the universe on the way to our telescopes, it passes through the gas that makes up the cosmic web; the gas absorbs some of the light, leaving a distinct signature that we can measure. The signature contains information about the chemical composition of the gas in the cosmic web, how much gas there is, its temperature, and more. By analyzing many of these systems, we can start to piece together information about the structure of the universe, and how it has changed throughout its lifetime.

As powerful as this technique is, it is equally complex and time-consuming. In fact, a trained expert might analyze only one or two systems per week. For reference, the Astronomy Department at NMSU has around 3,500 systems on file, which means that it will take 35 to 70 years to analyze all of this data.Furthermore, our data archives will only grow as the next generation of telescopes come online. How can we possibly handle all of this data? Enter machine learning.

Using machine learning, it may be possible to leapfrog the system analysis entirely. Instead of feeding a machine pictures of animals to identify, we can feed it absorption systems and receive our scientific answers directly from the machine. This work is still in the beginning stages of development and will take many years to pursue, but the potential of applying machine learning to quasar absorption line spectroscopy is incredible. With our current models, we can train a machine on nearly one million simulated systems in just over a day, at which point the machine can analyze 100,000 systems in just a few hours!

As our telescope technology improves and we collect more data in greater detail, astronomers face the daunting task of finding new ways to analyze these data en masse. Machine learning holds significant promise in this effort and is justifiably being explored in astronomy as a new tool available in our endeavor to understand the cosmos.

Bryson Stemock is a PhD student in astronomy at New Mexico State University. He can be reached at bstemock@nmsu.edu.

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Artificial intelligence and the structure of the universe - Las Cruces Sun-News

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August 4, 2021 By WG Communications Group Leave a Comment

The arrangement opens up opportunities for the regions tech-savvy students

The College of Southern Nevada is partnering with Intel to expand the companys Artificial Intelligence for Workforce Program, part of a nationwide effort that will enable students to land careers in high-tech, healthcare, automotive, industrial and aerospace fields.

CSN is one of 18 community colleges across the country joining the partnership. Naser Heravi, chair of the colleges renowned Computing and Information Technology Department, said CSN is working on a related curriculum and is looking forward to growing the partnership with Intel.

By partnering with one the worlds leading experts, we are in the beginning stages of developing a full program on Artificial Intelligence, Heravi said. This opens up opportunities for Southern Nevadas students, particularly those interested in engineering, business and computer science-related fields. He added that students in business and entrepreneurial fields, behavioral and psychological sciences, and many other programs would also benefit from the program.

Students can expect to learn traditional skills such as data collection, AI model training, and coding, and explore the societal impact of AI technology. Additionally, students will develop a social impact of AI project, working closely with teachers and Intel mentors.

According to Intel, a 2021 survey co-branded Dell and Intel, AI and machine learning are the area of study most anticipated to increase in demand over the next three years. According to the same survey, AI skills were surveyed as the second most in-demand skill behind cybersecurity. CSN was named a Cybersecurity Center of Excellence by the Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency in 2018.

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CSN & Intel Partner With Intel on Artificial Intelligence Education - Nevada Business Magazine

Summary

Recently the Manufacturing Media Consortium and its founder, TR Cutler (TRC) set up a new division examining the role ofmanufacturing and technology in the entertainment industry. What follows is an interview ofJacob Kyle Young(JKY) actor and founder ofPost Modern Entertainment.

Virtual reality (VR) is projected to be the rapidly growing segment in the media and entertainment space, according to Global Entertainment, which reported that 68 million VR headsets would be sold in the USA before the end of 2021, raising VR content revenue to $ 5.0 billion.During COVID, it became evident that using AI can help create VR interactive content. Using AI techniques, the entertainment industry creates remarkable scenes with a pair of goggles. Virtual reality content development for food shows, reality showsand live events based on Artificial Intelligence draws consumer attention. With all these advanced technologies, manufacturing entertainment content is truncated significantly.Normal timelines of a feature film (from pre-production to post-production and distribution) can run 3+ years.With AI and VR the manufacturers of this in-house remotely driven content creation is less than six months.

AI not only automates minute-by-minute or day-to-day operations but assists media content organizations to make strategic business decisions. Using technologies like Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and machine learning, these manufacturers use Lean Six Sigma methodologies to generate channel performance reports from raw advance analytics. o longer is this copious data presented as large Excel sheets; rather detail reports are designed to generate and implement meaningful strategic decision-making information. This is no different than high-level CRM data and B2B optimization data on an automotive plant floor.

AI is autogenerating multi-lingual content expanding the reach and market opportunities for entertainment content manufacturers.

Subtitle generation via AI immediate makes product content manufacturing accessible (and available to download) for a global market. International media publishing manufacturers make their content useful for audiences from various regions around the globe.That said, prior to AI, the cost of translations and cultural context made the cost prohibitive or questionable.The need to provide accurate and eye-catchy multilingual subtitles for video digital content platforms is vital. Manually writing subtitles for multiple movies and TV shows in dozens of languages may take thousands of hours at too high a price. To overcome these challenges, the media and entertainment manufacturing sector is using AI-based technologies like natural language production and natural language processing.YouTubes Artificial Intelligence enables its publishers to automatically create closed catchy captions for videos uploaded on the platform, giving them easy access to content.

Recently the Manufacturing Media Consortium and its founder, TR Cutler (TRC) set up a new division examining the role of manufacturing and technology in the entertainment industry. He is pictured on the right in the photo above.What follows is an interview of Jacob Kyle Young (JKY) actor and founder of Post Modern Entertainment. He is pictured on the left in the photo above.

TRC:How is Artificial Intelligence (AI) impacting the entertainment industry?JKY: Through automation and AI advancements in manufacturing, the entertainment industry has found ways to streamline the processes involved in pre-production such as casting actors through a digital platform like Actors Access or LAcasting.A database is available for casting to consider past performances by talent as well as making a more efficient workplace for film makers.

These tools use Machine Learning algorithms to consider actors social media metrics with target audiences. Actors with large social media followings are cast in roles to ensure audiences to promote feature productions. It is not a substitute for talent, but no longer are large studios pushing the publicity, that has been relegated to actors and social media influencers.

TRC:How does AI and Machine Learning Big Data impact what films get produced?JKY:Netflix is using AI to determine what audiences see on streaming services. Monitoring viewership patterns, curated content is put before audiences that will appeal to them most based on prior viewership behavior.This is social science and data-driven learning patterns that dictate the themes, topics, actors, and velocity of entertainment content. AI culls this information guiding future content which then enters post-production.

TRC:How are storyboards automated using animatics?JKY:Animatics can be great to help visualize the finished film, but they are complicated and generally quite expensive. Until recently storyboards were still hand drawn.ProductionNext has a tool that allows screenwriters automate storyboards into a simple animatic so investors can better visualize a film. This technology is being used on an upcoming production of Post Modern Entertainment called Breaking Reach, which is currently being shopped and will enter pre-production in 2022.

TRC:How is post-production automated?JKY:Automation now permits what was an 80% manual process into a premiere final product for an audience. Post-production goes far beyond editing footage. Automation exceeds the efficiency skills of human editing without restricting the careful directorial choices.Accessing metadata for each scene, calculating trending, and star ratings begin to transform an industry that will celebrate the centennial of the first talkie in 2027.

TRC:How has automation via virtual cinematography changed the industry?JKY: Virtual cinematography is the set of cinematographic techniques performed in a computer graphics environment. Virtual cinematography can be used to shoot scenes from otherwise impossible camera angles, create the photography of animated films, and manipulate the appearance of computer-generated effects.For the soon to be produced feature film, Breaking Reach this method will be used to film such scenes as having a mass audience in the bleachers at a football game. In the past, productions would need to cast individual people (extras) and pay them accordingly. AI technology and virtual cinematography will create the realistic large public congregation with computer animation. This is particularly important as COVID lingers on and on-set requirements and restrictions create limitations for this type of scene.

TRC: Is virtual computer-generated imagery replacing the green screen?JKY: The newest addition to the Star Wars movies, The Rise of Skywalker, make it obvious how virtual studios are able to literally bring someone back from the dead.Computer-generated imagery (CGI) creates life-like versions of people.This supersedes the now antiquated green screen, which was known for and limited to adding a simulated background.With current virtual adaptations, a green screen is used far less frequently.

TRC: What are the drawbacks to CGI and will this automation replace human actors?A: The cry that automation will replace humans is simply not true. We cannot replace the authenticity of real human performance.Though we might be semi-convinced from a CGI performance, avatars, and video representation notwithstanding, there is a reason why movies are still made in live action with real actors. The unpredictability and mercurial choices of actors and human interaction cannot be undervalued nor automated.

Actors react in real-time and part of the thrill of live theater is that fact that no two performances are the same. Automation removes the tedious pre- and post-production.It creates cost-efficiencies. It does not, nor will it ever replace great actors.

Thomas R. Cutler is the President and CEO of Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based,TR Cutler, Inc., celebrating its 23rd year. Cutler is the founder of the Manufacturing Media Consortium including more than 8000 journalists, editors, and economists writing about trends in manufacturing, industry, material handling, and process improvement. TR Cutler, Inc. recently launched three new divisions focusing on Gen Z, the African manufacturing sector, and manufacturing in the entertainment sector. Cutler authors more than 1000 feature articles annually regarding the manufacturing sector.

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Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Automation Transforming the Film Industry - Automation.com