From Drones to Diagnosing Dyslexia in Children: The Activities of the HSE AI Centre

Photo: government.ru

The HSE Centre for Artificial Intelligence, together with its partners in industry, is working on 25 applied projects in the fields of telecommunications, finance, education, medicine, etc. The results of the work by researchers and developers were recently presented at a meeting of a Russian government working group. That meeting summed up the initial results of the federal Artificial Intelligence project, part of the national Digital Economy programme.

Last year, the Russian government issued grants to six research centres focusing on artificial intelligence (AI). HSE University is one of them. Their task is to develop breakthrough solutions that make Russia a world leader in AI and provide for the import substitution of foreign products and technologies in the domestic market.

Dmitry Chernyshenko

‘I’m glad that, despite the short period—only six months from the moment the centres were selected—they can already show concrete results that enterprises can use’, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko said during the meeting of the working group. He emphasised that, in the current situation, it is necessary to strengthen the implementation of applied AI solutions in the real sector and accelerate the digital transformation of priority sectors of the economy.

The HSE AI Centre develops models and software in 25 areas. At the working group meeting, Alexey Masyutin, head of the HSE AI Centre, said that ongoing projects can be divided into two groups: projects for business and those for areas of social significance. He emphasised that each project is pushing the global frontiers of its particular technological field.

Thus, for Sber, the AI Center creates new language models and develops intelligent systems with a wide range of applications, from tasks for managing human capital to identifying signs of suspicious transactions. And for Yandex, work is underway on algorithms for optimising user interaction on various platforms and breakthrough learning reinforcement methods for optimising driverless vehicles. Implementation and pilot testing for a number of projects will take place as early as 2022. For example, a model for improving image quality will be tested using MTS data.

Socially significant projects include solutions to improve the quality of the educational process, as well as machine learning models for medicine that can reduce drug development costs. Researchers also created a prototype product for the early diagnosis of dyslexia in children. Such AI technologies help identify and protect against childhood illness. The solution was presented at an exhibition that was part of the working group’s meeting.

Alexey Masyutin

‘Before the meeting of the working group, we visited an exhibition of prototypes and products from AI centres. It was very interesting to see what our colleagues are doing. For our part, the HSE University booth presented a system for the early diagnosis of childhood dyslexia. With the help of artificial intelligence models, the system makes it possible to obtain a quick assessment based on the movement of the child’s eyes while reading’, said Alexey Masyutin.

According to Masyutin, new industry partners are now involved in the work of the AI Centre to solve the urgent problems of import substitution. In particular, an agreement on cooperation with pharmaceutical industry representatives is being prepared.

It is worth noting that, in addition to its research track in AI, HSE University also offers undergraduate and graduate educational programmes in such AI fields as machine learning, computer science, etc. You can find more information about them here.

‘As part of the federal project, the research centres’ host organisations are already introducing undergraduate and graduate programmes in priority AI fields. Students and graduates of these programmes will be able to continue their research at these centres. By 2024, we expect that about 9,000 people will enroll in master's and bachelor's programmes in AI’, said Dmitry Chernyshenko.

According to Chernyshenko, the specialists involved in the breakthrough research at AI centres demonstrate a high degree of interest in carrying out projects in domestic scientific organisations, continuing to work in Russia despite offers from abroad. ‘This suggests that young professionals consider flagship research centres attractive places to work’, the Deputy Prime Minister said.

At the government meeting, HSE University also proposed holding a national high-level international conference in the field of artificial intelligence this fall at the Russian government’s National Centre for the Development of Artificial Intelligence.