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Artificial Intelligence Research Laboratory

Using a NVIDIA supercomputer, the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research Laboratory at AUM is a breakthrough for educational research, professional development, and AI consulting—both regionally and nationally. Students in AUM’s Master of Science in Management Information Systems and undergraduates in the Business Administration/Information Systems programs use the lab to develop skills in such areas as:

  • Machine learning
  • Natural language processing
  • Automation
  • Robotic process automation
  • Facial recognition systems
  • Problem solving
  • Big data analysis

The Lab is also a resource for those in business, institutional, and industrial settings who want to greatly expand the kind of solutions their proprietary data can provide using AI.

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Video Testimonials

What is the AUM Artificial Intelligence Lab and why is it important?

Dr. James Locke
Video Testimonials

Central Alabama Business Break - AUM AI Lab

Dr. James Locke
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Student Spotlight

Sample Student Projects in the AI Research Laboratory

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Sreeja Bethu (left) and Sai Vennela Muttavarapu (right)

Sreeja Bethu (left) and Sai Vennela Muttavarapu (right) created a facial recognition AI algorithm in a standard laptop environment and then ported it to a Raspberry Pi to make the technology small and portable for flexible use in various applications.  The system is self-contained, runs independently of WiFi or Internet connections, and recognizes individuals by using only a single stored photograph.  The pair will extend their research to recognizing groups of individuals, such as for recognizing attendees in a meeting or a class, and populate a spreadsheet with attendance confirmation.  Too, the system can be used to allow or deny entrance into laboratories or other secure locations based on an image.

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Hang (Hanna) Tran

Many businesses enhance their revenue-driven planning through forecasting analysis and business intelligence. Hanna’s honors thesis research uses Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs), in particular LSTMs (Long Short-Term Memory) networks, applied to data from Starbucks.

These algorithms were chosen for their ability to drive business efficiency from latent data. The goal is to use data analysis to develop marketing strategies for mobile apps, train neural networks to predict human behavior, and, finally, apply these technologies to recommend products.

Central to the project is assessing the popularity of food and drink products through customer views. Given the vast amount of data involved, the biggest challenge is compressing and aggregating the data in a way that could provide essential insights for the business. A key goal of this research is to minimize the amount of error and prediction in the future through an ensemble of data science techniques.

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Mahiteesh Alla & Naveen Lingam

In India, the agriculture sector is an unorganized sector. Through Mahiteesh’s and Lingam’s interest in agriculture and coming from an agribusiness family involved in chili breeding and marketing, they saw the opportunity to launch an agri-tech startup with an Al-enabled platform to help organize agriculture.

Historically, retailers and traders have had the most influence over agricultural product prices, stocks, and flow. It is Mahiteesh’s and Lingam’s hope to become the biggest distributors of agricultural products in India with the help of artificial intelligence. Using AI, their goals are three-fold. To:

  • Restock products produced by a very fragmented and information-starved economic sector even before the retailers have to order them.
  • Provide advisory services to help farmers improve their yield so they can get better prices for their produce.
  • Inform farmers about predicted high-demand crops to improve profitability and reduce crop waste.
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Duc Tran

Facial recognition is a tool for tracking an individual’s movements, locating criminals, and as a means to clear security. While much research has been done to improve facial-recognition algorithms, little has been done to study disguises and other means to avoid detection. Using a large data set of faces in various states of disguise, Duc is training AI to learn the specific details necessary to enable detection while the images are altered to thwart certain detection.

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Elizabeth Takyi-Botchway

Artificial Intelligence Research Lab

In the Media

“AI is coming, and it’s coming hard. You have to innovate yourself. At some point, we’re gonna have to put our fear away and learn about it.” –– Guilherme Bittencourt, AUM graduate student

Our faculty and students approach inquiry and problem-solving with fearlessness and creativity. Through our research and industry engagement, we are uniquely positioned to help public and private sector organizations tackle important questions and solve complex challenges through the ethical and strategic use of AI. Additionally, our faculty can help eliminate unfounded fears about AI by helping media separate fact from fiction in their reporting.

Our Lab Equipment

Equipment and Integration

The Artificial Intelligence Research Laboratory wishes to thank NVIDIA and solutions provider Mark III Systems for their generous participation and partnership.

The Lab is proud to use a new generation of AI super-computing, the NVIDIA DGX Station A100. This dedicated resource provides maximum performance for multiple, simultaneous users anywhere in the world and offers data center technology without a data center or additional IT infrastructure.

Mark III Systems is a leading digital and IT transformation solutions provider with a long, rich history of providing “full stack” technology solutions to enterprises and service providers across North America.

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James M. Locke

Department Chair/Assistant Professor
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David M. Simmonds

Visiting Assistant Professor
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