The World’s Biggest A.I. Conference Is Going Virtual, and Finally Becoming More Inclusive
Organizers announced this week that NeurIPS, now the world’s best-known A.I. conference, would be completely virtual this year, and with considerably cheaper tickets.
NeurIPS became a pillar of the world’s conversation on cutting edge A.I. research following the A.I. boom that started in 2012, after a team of Canadian researchers proved a fringe technique called deep learning outperformed many other forms of A.I. Tech giants began flocking to the formerly academic event, spending millions to sponsor the conference and recruit the next wave of star PhDs.
The exorbitant cost of conference travel and lodging, as well as visa denials, meant many researchers from around the world simply couldn’t attend, furthering the industry’s homogeneity.
In response, organizations like Black In AI, LatinX in AI, and Women in MLhave created spaces for groups that are underrepresented at NeurIPS, holding their own workshops centering women and people of color, as well as awarding travel grants.
Africa’s largest A.I. conference, Deep Learning Indaba, was also created in part to build a community for those who couldn’t attend NeurIPS, which has almost always been held in North America.
Going virtual, in addition to a “significantly reduced” registration fee, will make the conference more accessible for those who haven’t been able to attend before. In addition to removing travel and lodging costs, the conference lifted its attendance cap.
See the full story here: https://onezero.medium.com/the-worlds-biggest-a-i-conference-is-going-virtual-and-finally-becoming-more-inclusive-81dc5ff554ec