Researchers Anik K. Jain and Michael I. Jordan have been recognized with the Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Information and Communication Technologies category for their fundamental contributions, over four decades, in the field of machine learning that have driven the development of biometrics and, therefore, artificial intelligence (AI). In the 17th edition of this BBVA Foundation award, the jury chose them from among 41 nominees and highlighted that both scientists have made computers capable of identifying patterns and making predictions with groups of data. This has led to the push for transformative technologies such as biometrics and also laying the foundation for generative AI.
Jain was taken by surprise by the jury’s verdict while on vacation in Panama. “It is a great honor for me to have been recognized,” he expressed through a video call at a press conference held today in Madrid. After studying in his native country, India, the award-winner began his career at Ohio State University, which led him to work at the US National Security Agency. Throughout his career, he has focused on researching pattern recognition and was a pioneer in demonstrating to what extent it is possible for the fingerprints of two individuals to be the same. This has allowed the development of technologies, which already exist in our mobile phones, that are capable of reading a person’s face, for example.
“We live in a society where there are many fraudulent activities. There are many criminals who can obtain false identity documents and impersonate another person,” he says. In relation to algorithmic biases or machine learning that these technological tools can present, for Jainel the main challenge that biometrics faces today is to continue improving accuracy, to prevent people whose fingerprints or face appear to match those at the scene of a crime from being wrongly detained. “Biometrics are here to stay,” he noted.
Jordan, for his part, has developed mathematical and computational techniques that are behind a multitude of applications of artificial intelligence. “I’m in California, I picked up the phone and I heard a Spanish accent,” he says about how he found out about the award. The foundations of the scientist’s career date back to the nineties, when he became one of the pioneers in the development of the so-called variational inference methods, a central technique in the development of machine learning
“I think what artificial intelligence has to do is help us connect better with each other and collaborate more effectively,” he said. Jordan’s contributions are currently translated to the recommendation systems of certain platforms – such as Amazon – to generative language models, such as ChatGPT.
In the previous edition of the award, the award went to Takeo Kanade (HyogoJapan, 78 years old) for developing mathematical foundations on which the capabilities of computers and robots to understand and interpret visual images and scenes are based. Its applications extend to fields as varied as cars to robotic surgery.
