Jinjun Xiong was a young computer scientist working on AI technology at IBM when the company’s Watson computer famously beat the top human players on “Jeopardy!”. But while the rest of the world oohed and aahed, Xiong wondered if we should be using AI for a higher purpose—not to defeat humans, but to help them. Now a SUNY Empire Innovation Professor at the University at Buffalo and director of UB’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, Xiong is fully immersed in designing AI solutions for the betterment of society. In this episode of Driven to Discover, Xiong talks to host Cory Nealon about the epiphany that drove his career choices, the AI projects he’s most excited about at UB, and why he thinks people should stop freaking out about the downsides of AI and be more energized by its possibilities.

Credits: 
 
Host: Cory Nealon
Guest: Jinjun Xiong
Writer: Laura Silverman
Production and editing by UB Video Production Group 

Coming next year: Driven to Discover is taking a break over the summer. We will be back in late August with a whole new slate of UB experts and innovators discussing what drove them to focus their life’s work on their subject and what makes their research meaningful for the world at large.