Luis Paulo Reis, DEI’s Associate Professor with Aggregation, was unanimously reelected last January 3rd as Director of LIACC – Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science at the University of Porto.
Beside him will be Henrique Lopes Cardoso (FEUP), Mário Florido (FCUP), Brígida Mónica Faria (IPP) and José Cascalho (UAc), the new Board of Directors of this research laboratory based at FEUP, resulting from elections held on 19 and 20 December.
It is with enthusiasm and optimism that the new team faces the challenges that are expected to be many in the triennium 2023-25, at a time when the discussion about the impacts of Artificial Intelligence in the economy and society runs at the pace of its rapid development.
Luis Paulo Reis, who is also president of APPIA – Portuguese Association for Artificial Intelligence, has no doubts that with the increasingly widespread use of AI in various sectors of society, “we are taking a step as relevant as the industrial revolution”, something that may be similar to the transport revolution that began with the invention of the steam locomotive, “not in a literal sense, but in the impact it may cause in society”. In a recent interview for jornal i on the “Artificial Intelligence Revolution”, he shares his vision on the inevitability of the disappearance of certain types of jobs and believes that with “artificial intelligence it will be possible to reduce in a generalized way most of the State’s costs”, foreseeing “a reduction in the number of civil servants and a reduction in public spending, which could contemplate all types of sectors, from transport to health and the administrative area”, which will be ensured by a partially automated State body. He anticipates that “allocating surplus capital to improve State infrastructures, creating new support and monetary incentives for citizens, investing in areas of interest, such as culture, and ultimately, enabling each citizen to perform tasks of their interest, which will boost creativity and imagination” will increase citizens’ quality of life across the board.
And it is with this ultimate purpose that LIAAC R&D intends to continue investing in the areas of Health and Well-being, Smart Cities and Mobility, Innovative and Sustainable Industry/Services, Public Administration and Governance, Infrastructures and Highly Connected Society and Entertainment/Games.
Being now part of LASI – Intelligent Systems Associate Laboratory, the largest Associated Laboratory in Portugal that includes 13 R&D institutions and more than 500 researchers with PhD, will allow LIACC to increase its critical mass, funding and internationalization, and continue to develop one of its main goals, the creation of sustainable and inclusive innovation for society, improving applications, materials and products and using advanced technologies of intelligent systems, providing high levels of accuracy, performance and adaptation over time.