What is Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, and Why Should Bridge Engineers Care?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has taken the world by storm. But many remain confused and concerned: What is Artificial Intelligence really? Where did it come from? How can we use it? Is it going to take our jobs? And is it going to take over the world, Terminator-style? In this talk, I cut through the hype to provide a high-level overview of AI---it's purpose, origin, history, and potential future---and outline productive ways to think about how we can productively use AI for our benefit, both broadly across society and specifically in our own work. I examine the latest AI generative text and image models (e.g., ChatGPT), describing how they work and suggesting opportunities for how they might be leveraged by bridge engineers, all the while pointing out important caveats and limitations. We will leave time for questions and discussion.