Why Machine Learning?

The world of technology has been revolutionized with seemingly infinite supply of computing power and with extra-ordinary advancements in the field of artificial intelligence to augment and automate current avenues. Machine Learning (ML), a branch of Artificial Intelligence, has been gaining significant momentum with practical applications in several fields including medicine, biometric security, robotics, manufacturing, autonomous driving, gaming etc. The market opportunity for machine learning is expected to grow 10-fold in the next decade and reach ~$300 billion. Beyond the market opportunity, Machine Learning is opening avenues which are not otherwise humanly possible. It is this promise that makes Machine Learning incredibly valuable and also integral part of our near future.However, current high school curriculum has not yet incorporated elements of machine learning to raise awareness in the general student community. As a student of science research, I was fortunate to gain opportunities from professors at local universities to conduct Machine Learning experiments and compete at local and international science fairs. From the moment I started working in this field, it has been very clear to me that available research opportunities far outnumber available resources and that more research students need to be recruited to realize the true promise of Machine Learning. Accordingly, we formulated our mission to raise awareness in Machine Learningand provide resources to students to learn computer programming, which is essential to expanding the playing field.

Why Detroit?

“Speramus Meliora” (“We hope for better things”) and “Resurgent Cineribus” (“It will rise from the ashes”) - these mottos embody the quintessential spirt of Detroiters. As the birthplace of the modern automobile, Detroit has foreverbeen chiseled in our memory as the “Motor City”. Detroit is also home for premier healthcare institutions in the world including Henry Ford Health and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Today’s perspective of automobile is vastly different from what it used to be. In 2017, Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, famously stated that “There are tens of millions of lines of code in the vehicle today, which wasn’t true five or six years ago”. In 2021, Marius Mihailovici, Managing Director of Porsche Engineering claimed that “100 million. Thisis how many lines of code feature in today’s car. By comparison, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner only has 14 million.” Beyond the number of lines of code, it is the functionality of the code in automobiles that will drive advanced research using machine learning to revolutionize our perspective of tomorrow’s car. The same impact is being felt inthe field of medicine with machine learning solutions gaining rapid momentum in augmenting healthcare professionals to perform functions which were unthinkable, just a few years ago. These lightning-fast advancements need rapid increase in resources to conduct research in the field of Machine Learning. That is why we embarked on our journey to raise awareness in machine learning in the Detroit community to encourage people from different backgrounds to bring forward ideas which may, one day, create something revolutionary. “Why Detroit?” - what better place to seek such collaboration than Detroit - the epicenter of the automobile industry, the home of premier healthcare institutions, and above all a cultural melting pot with people from diverse backgrounds.? For those who say that Detroit is yesterday’s city, I say “Resurgent Cineribus”.