Travel: DEF CON31 AI Village Travel

Seedai Inc, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

This conference proposal requests funds to support student participation in the DEF CON 31 computer security conference, scheduled for August 10-13, 2023, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The DEF CON conference brings together computer security professionals, journalists, lawyers, federal government employees, security researchers, and students with an interest in cybersecurity for all aspects of computer systems, including software, computer architecture, and hardware. The event includes “villages” that are dedicated spaces arranged around a specific topic. This year the AI Village is hosting the first public generative AI cybersecurity event focused on testing several industrial AI platforms. The funds will be used to provide travel support for twenty-seven community college students. This support will broaden participation in computing, expand the dissemination of the latest research results on AI and cybersecurity, and help to build the workforce for secure AI products and systems. The goals of this project include informing the development of AI models and products, and gaining a better understanding of opportunities for community colleges to provide experiential learning to students interested in AI development, management, and security. SeedAI will partner with Houston Community College to recruit and select students using an application process. Students selected for the travel support will contribute to a large-scale security exercise for AI models, working alongside other attendees of the conference. The project will allow students to inform the high growth field of computer science, networking, cloud, and high-performance computing environments. Students will also meet and engage with peers in the field and develop an understanding of how hackathons work and why they can be important tools for AI and computing development. Students from underrepresented groups and students of color will benefit from their participation by acquiring insight and access that positions them to pursue higher degrees in computing and AI development, infrastructure creation, and management; step confidently into AI careers, and inform AI system infrastructure with their unique and diverse perspectives. Approximately sixty-five percent of Houston Community College students are Black, indigenous or people of color and 25% of those are enrolled in the AI, computing, and engineering tracks. The larger scientific and computing community will benefit from voices that represent communities commonly left out of the AI narrative. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.