Invited Speakers of 2025

University of Canberra, Australia

Speech Title: Multimodal Embodied Agents: The Next Frontier of Artificial Intelligence

Biography: Dr. Girija Chetty has a Bachelors and Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from India, and PhD in Information Sciences and Engineering from Australia.
She has more than 40 years of experience in Industry, Research and Teaching from Universities and Research and Development Organisations from India and Australia, and has held several leadership positions including Head of Software Engineering and Computer Science, Program Director of ITS courses, Research Degree Program Convenor, and Course Director for Master of Computing and Information Technology Courses. Currently, she is a Full Professor in Computing and Information Technology at School of Information Technology and Systems, at University of Canberra, Australia, and leads a research group with several PhD students, Post Docs, research assistants and regular International and National visiting researchers. She is a Senior Member of IEEE, USA, and senior member of Australian Computer Society, and her research interests are in the area of multimodal systems, computer vision, pattern recognition, data mining, and medical image computing. She has published extensively with more than 200 fully refereed publications in several invited book chapters, edited books, high quality conference and journals, and she is in the editorial boards, technical review committees and regular reviewer for several IEEE, Elsevier and IET journals in the area related to her research interests. She is highly interested in seeking wide and interdisciplinary collaborations, research scholars and visitors in her research group.

Abstract: Artificial intelligence (AI) has evolved significantly over the past decade, transitioning from narrow, task-specific systems to more general, adaptive, and context-aware agents. Among the most promising advancements in this domain is the emergence of Multimodal Embodied Agentic Models - a transformative paradigm that integrates multimodal learning, embodied intelligence, and autonomous decision-making to create agents capable of interacting seamlessly with the physical and digital worlds. This field represents a convergence of cutting-edge technologies, including computer vision, natural language processing (NLP), robotics, and reinforcement learning, to enable systems that can perceive, reason, and act in complex, dynamic environments. In this talk, work being pursued in this area in our research laboratory will be presented.

 

Associate Editor, Springer Nature
University of Houston-Clear Lake, USA

Biography: Dr. Soma Datta specializes in software engineering and data science, with a focus on immersive technologies and data-driven decision-making. Her research spans virtual reality applications in STEM education, machine learning for scientific workflows, and predictive analytics in enrollment management. As a former Associate Director of Enrollment Management at Texas Tech University, she applied data science to optimize recruitment and retention strategies. Dr. Datta is a frequent presenter at international conferences and serves as an Associate Editor for Springer Nature.

 

Anhui Jianzhu University, China

Biography: Chen Li is a Doctoral Supervisor, Level-2 Professor, a Renowned Teacher in Anhui Province, and holds a Doctorate degree. For 20 years, she has been engaged in research related to artificial intelligence, project evaluation theories and methods, and spatial econometric analysis. She has presided over nearly 10 national and provincial ministerial level projects, including 1 post - funded project of the National Social Science Foundation, 1 project of the Anhui Provincial Philosophy and Social Science Planning, 3 soft science projects of the Anhui Provincial Department of Science and Technology, 1 general project of the Anhui Natural Science Foundation, and 2 research topics on the innovative development of social sciences in Anhui Province. She has published over 100 academic papers, among which nearly 30 are in SSCI, EI (JA), CSCD, CSSCI, and core journals. As the first completed person, she won the Second Prize of the Anhui Provincial Social Science Award (Social Science Category) (2019 - 2020). One of her independently written research reports received instructions from the main leaders of the Anhui Provincial Party Committee.She presides over the Provincial Renowned Teacher Studio, leads a provincial level teaching team, teaches provincial level excellent courses, has edited 2 provincial planned textbooks, presided over a major educational reform project of the Anhui Provincial Department of Education. In 2021, the postgraduate education led by her won the First Prize of the Provincial Teaching Achievement Award; in 2022, she won the Second Prize of the Anhui Provincial Social Science Award. The case written by the team she led was included in the case library of the China Professional Degree Teaching Case Center of the Ministry of Education. She has edited 2 provincial planned textbooks and published 5 monographs.

 

University of Porto, Brazil

Speech Title: Putting Health First: an Ethical Argument for Prioritizing Medical AI Over Other Technological Developments

Abstract: This talk develops an ethical argument that supports the thesis that the development of Medical Artificial Intelligence (MAI) should be prioritized over other applications of Artificial Intelligence: unlike applications focused on convenience, consumer preferences, or financial efficiency, MAI focuses in urgent global health challenges by offering scalable solutions that can reduce suffering, save lives, and mitigate healthcare inequalities. Based in the moral reasoning of Effective Altruism, the chapter argues that directing resources toward MAI development is not only justified but morally imperative, given its potential for high-impact outcomes in both developed and underserved regions. Through a comparative analysis, we show that while other AI sectors (such as autonomous vehicles, financial AI, and e-commerce) offer some societal benefits, but they lack the immediacy and global importance that healthcare technologies have. Finally, the chapter considers common objections to the prioritization thesis, such as the challenges of implementing MAI, being support by a problematic ethical framework (Effective Altruism), or concerns over resource misallocation. We argue that these critiques fail to challenge the fundamental ethical rationale: that MAI possesses an exceptional capacity to achieve a moral obligation, that is, to alleviate human suffering where it is both urgent and tractable. If we can primarily focus our limited resources in development and use of MAI, society we will be able to provide high-quality care to populations that have been historically marginalized or underserved and, at the same time, increasing the healthcare services of populations from developed countries.

Biography: Steven S. Gouveia is a Contracted Researcher at the Mind, Language, and Action Group of the Institute of Philosophy, University of Porto, an Honorary Professor at the Andrés Bello Faculty of Medicine. He served as a Visiting Researcher (2024) at the Robotics Lab of the University of Palermo and he is currently a Visiting Researcher at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. He has authored 15 academic books, the latest being "The Odyssey of the Mind: Dialogues on the Brain and Consciousness", featuring contributions from eight international thinkers, including Nobel Prize-winning physicist Sir Roger Penrose. At the University of Porto, he leads a six-year project focused on AI Ethics in Medicine (www.trustaimedicine.weebly.com). A TEDx Speaker with over 40,000 views, he hosted the documentary "The Age of Artificial Intelligence: A Documentary”. Steven has been a keynote speaker at numerous international conferences. For more information, visit www.stevensgouveia.weebly.com.