Reports of the AAAI 2010 Spring Symposia

The Symposium on Artificial Intelligence for Development was organized to explore opportunities for using machine learning, inference, planning, and perception to enhance the quality of lives of disadvantaged populations. Over the last several years, a community of researchers with interest in applying computing and communication technologies in developing regions has come together under the label Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT-D). However, ICT-D efforts to date have rarely focused on opportunities to harness machine learning, reasoning, and perception to create intelligent systems, services, models, and analyses. Beyond exploring research projects and directions, we hoped that bringing together a critical mass of researchers who share an interest in applying AI to development challenges would serve to help launch a new vibrant subfield of ICT-D on artificial intelligence for development (AI-D). The symposium program1 included a lively mix of invited keynotes and presentations, with sessions on insights about people and behavior, health, education, and welfare, information access, and infrastructure and agriculture. Panel discussions explored the terrain of the field in a panel on Grand Challenges in AI for Development and causality and intervention in a panel on Learning, Causation, and Effective Action. The talks, panels, and open discussions highlighted numerous opportunities to apply methods developed within the AI community to enhance the quality of lives and promote the socioeconomic development of people in the poorer regions of the world. Directions of research discussed at the meeting include the use of machine learning and reasoning to extend medical care to remote regions through automated diagnosis Reports