June 5, 2024
The Spring 2024 GEN ST 297 seminar students were very creative and academically diverse this quarter. The students in the seminar once again chose to explore topics in depth. Hot topics were AI, ChatGPT, and quantum computing.
Seminar Scenarios
The Spring 2024 seminar students chose to look at the nexus of AI & Hawaii with a focus on key areas of academic and professional interests that they brought to the seminar. The four scenarios of future states over time for this synthesis are shared below.
Scenario 1. (5-10 years from now). AI in the Islands.AI begins to be used in many areas throughout the Hawaiian Islands. One best practice for use of Hawaiian language and culture in AI is that Native Hawaiian practitioners be part identifying approved sources for this information for AI to use. High school students will use AI to begin their research on Hawaiian mathematicians. Apps that identify Hawaiian flora and fauna will work with Hawaiian language and culture practitioners to improve the information provided within the app on name meanings and uses. UW will collaborate with UH-Mānoa to make signage and communication in hospitals friendlier and more inclusive. AI is used throughout the tourism industry share Hawaiian language and culture information. Robots are used to clean up beaches and AI helps identify the most important beaches to focus on due to cultural or environmental concerns. AI is used to forecast best places for surfing.
Scenario 2. (50 years from now). Ins and Outs of AI Identified. A new best practice to turn off AI ‘incoming’ features on phones during cultural events has become common, photos are allowed, but devices cannot listen in or record the events.AI is not used to help solve land ownership issues in Hawaii, Military communities located in Hawaii work with Hawaiian language and culture practitioners to build AI tools systems to improve cultural sensitivity in training environments when practitioners are not available to work with communities in person. “Hawaiian Futures” becomes a popular course students begin studying in high school, many of these students go on to study at UH-Mānoa. AI is used extensively in urban planning to identify the best ways to redevelop existing urban areas so that cities and towns don’t have to use any more natural space. UW and UH-Mānoa students, faculty, and staff design exchange opportunities that include AI learning modules that are completed prior to exchanges occur. AI is used throughout the tourist industry to identify ways in which the industry can reduce its negative impact on Hawaiian culture and the environment.
Scenario 3. (100 years from now). AI adds to Culture, Communities, and Economy. Hawaiian language used in universal translators is based on information and resources from Hawaiian language and culture practitioners. Hawaii’s ecosystems continue to suffer challenges. Forest and ecosystems are at high risk of collapse. AI-related tech has been both harmful and helpful in the situation. AI is now being used to solve and identify new challenges (such as detecting a new invasive insect species that could be impactful to endemic trees). AI in a variety of technologies is helping to bring back coral (looking at water conditions, seasonal elements, etc.) and address other environmental problems.AI created by Hawaiian language and culture practitioners is now being used in fully immersive teaching for all subjects on Earth, in space travel, and on space stations elsewhere in the solar system.AI helps local and state governments work with communities to identify ways to diversify economic development so that it is not solely based on tourism.
Scenario 4. (250+ years from now). New AI Applications in the Islands and in the Stars. AI is routinely used to identify instances of cultural appropriation throughout the many AI systems on Earth and AI systems being used in space travel and space stations. Robots are fully utilized in tourist industry service jobs throughout the Hawaiian Islands but in ways that still support local communities and economies. UW has partnered with UH-Mānoa to use AI to help identify treatments for health challenges that continue to impact Native Hawaiians disproportionately in the 23rd century. These treatments are then shared via quantum communication transmissions to developing new communities throughout our solar system and nearby planetary systems. AI helps geologists share important proactive information about the newest Hawaiian Island that has started to be visible above the ocean, earthquakes continue to create small tsunamis that nearby Islands and communities around the Pacific Ocean need to be informed of. Commercial space travel companies and military communities work with Hawaiian language and culture practitioners to use AI in generating new policies and programs that incorporate Hawaiian language, culture, and worldviews. This is particularly important because of the space ports for launching large space missions is located to the north or Kauai.
