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Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, state economic development and technology leaders and other officials visited Northeasterns Boston campus on Thursday to learn from university professors how artificial intelligence can solve some of the most pressing issues in the state and the world. AI is a technology with the potential to transform not just the potential, it will transform every aspect of our life, Healey said during an event at the EXP research complex. Massachusetts innovators, as well see in todays presentations, are already at the forefront.

Provost David Madigan said Northeastern was the exactly the right place to talk about AI, pointing out that AI research at the university is being used to detect cancers, track infant health, prevent climate change and more.

And all with an eye on ethical AI and responsible AI, Madigan said. That has been a key theme of everything we do here at this university how do we harness this extraordinary technology to do good.

The event occurred prior to a meeting at Northeastern of the Artificial Intelligence Strategic Task Force commissioned by Healey, who also attended the session.

The taskforce was established in February to study AI and generative artificial intelligence technology and its impact on the state, private businesses, higher education institutions and constituents. It is made up of leaders from large companies, startups, academia, investors and nonprofits.

Northeasterns Usama Fayyad is a member of the task force, and described his work as executive director of The Institute for Experiential AI at the university to those in attendance.

Rupal Patel, a professor in the Khoury College of Computer Sciences and the Bouve College of Health Sciences, showcased her work using AI to create bespoke synthesized voices for individuals with various health conditions.

Auroop Ganguly, director of AI for climate and sustainability at The Institute for Experiential AI, gave a presentation on how AI can help predict local flooding particularly flooding around Bostons Logan Airport from extreme precipitation events.

College of Engineering Distinguished Professor Jennifer Dy explained her research with hospitals in New York City and Boston using AI to detect skin cancer and to treat patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The nice thing about being an AI person in Massachusetts, and in Boston in particular, is that we have world-leading hospitals that are highly concentrated in the area, Dy said. And with advances in AI, theres a lot that we can do together.

Taskin Padir, director of the Institute for Experiential Robotics at Northeastern, finished the presentations by showcasing a robotic arm with a gripper inspired by chopsticks that can help seafood processors sort and grade scallops.

We are so fortunate to have you all here in Boston, Healey told the professors before she, Wu and Economic Development Secretary Yvonne Hao took turns operating the robot. I know theyll appreciate this in New Bedford.

Healey said repeatedly during the event that she wants Massachusetts to become a global hub for applied AI finding real-world applications for AI just as the state is a hub for the life sciences.

She said a $2.8 billion economic development bond bill she has proposed called the Mass Leads Act is crucial to this goal.

The bill includes $100 million to leverage AI to spur technological advances in the life sciences, health care, advanced manufacturing and robotics sectors, support incubation of AI startups, advance AI software and hardware tech development, and support commercialization activities. This funding would also incentivize public-private partnerships between industry and academia.

Its about taking that knowledge and making it practical, Healey said.

Also crucial to the goal are universities like Northeastern, as Healey referenced the Huskies who recently completed projects for the state through the AI for Impact Co-op Program.

What I saw with the students is it can just cut exponentially the amount of time it takes to get answers to people, Healey said, referencing one of the students projects, which included work for The Ride paratransit service and streamlining the grants process with the Office of Energy and Environmental Affair.

It will get better service and better answers to customers, whether theyre people looking for grant funding, people looking for permitting, you know, or other customers that we serve as a government and its really exciting, she said.

Our universities are really our secret sauce, and they have been for so many parts of our economy, added Hao.

She noted that Massachusetts leads the country in terms of AI graduates per capita and is among the top states for AI graduates.

We have the talent here at our universities, Hao continued. Working closely with our cities and our state government and all of our different private sectors, we can really lead here.

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AI will transform every aspect of our life, Gov. Healey says at artificial intelligence task force meeting at Northeastern - Northeastern University