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The 5th Meeting of the Joint Research Unit (JRU) ValgrAI Brings Together AI Experts to Address Ethical, Technological, and Legal Challenges of the Future

València, January 14, 2025 – The 5th Meeting of the Joint Research Unit (JRU) of ValgrAI gathered prominent researchers and experts in Artificial Intelligence (AI) to discuss the latest advancements and applications of this technology across various sectors.

The event, rich in diverse topics, began with presentations by Vicent Botti Navarro and Ana Cidad Vila, who shared the latest updates on ValgrAI. Following them, José Salvador Tárrega, Director General of Transparencia y Participación, addressed the challenges faced by Valencian society regarding transparency in the face of AI’s potential.

The first keynote, delivered by Paolo Rosso (Universitat Politècnica de València-UPV) and titled “Conspiranoic Thinking vs. Critical Thinking on Social Media,” examined the implications of AI approaches in analyzing conspiratorial content versus critical thinking on social media. Rosso emphasized the importance of distinguishing between these types of thought processes to mitigate the risk of individuals with limited critical capacity being drawn into conspiratorial narratives, especially given the increasing manipulation of information on platforms like Telegram.

The meeting continued with “Natural Computing and Its Application to Biomedicine” by José María Sempere Luna (UPV), who explained the role of biomolecular and biocellular computing in advancing biomedicine. Sempere showcased pioneering projects in epidemiological simulation and biomolecular language models, underscoring how natural computing contributes to solving complex health-related problems.

“Intelligent Environments for Active and Healthy Aging,” presented by Francisco Florez-Revuelta (Universidad de Alicante), explored the use of smart cameras for home monitoring, highlighting the importance of safeguarding user privacy. Florez-Revuelta introduced ethical solutions enabling non-intrusive monitoring, fostering social acceptance of these technologies to support older adults and their caregivers.

In the field of education, “New Frontiers in Interactive Systems for Education,” delivered by Jordi Linares (UPV), introduced the potential for creating real-time adaptive educational experiences tailored to individual student profiles using multimodal systems. These advancements in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) enable dynamic and personalized interactions, marking a milestone in the development of advanced educational systems.

Juan Antonio Pérez (Universidad de Alicante) presented “Conversational System to Improve English Proficiency of Non-Native Speakers Through Videoconference Transcription Analysis.” This system, developed by the Transducens research group, combines artificial intelligence and advanced technologies to enhance English proficiency for non-native speakers by analyzing online meeting transcripts. During his talk, Pérez highlighted how DeMINT transforms daily professional interactions into educational opportunities. This intelligent tutor leverages advanced language models, grammatical error analysis, and empathetic response generation to provide a personalized and effective learning experience.

Legal issues also took center stage at the meeting. Javier Plaza Penadés (Universitat de València), in his talk “Main Legal Challenges in Implementing the AI Regulation,” offered a critical perspective on the European AI Regulation, highlighting gaps and difficulties in its application. Plaza stressed the need for complementary national legislation to address aspects not covered by the regulation, such as intellectual property and civil liability in AI.

In her presentation, “Implications of AI on Intellectual Property,” Concepción Saiz García (Universitat de València) discussed the challenges of copyright law in an era of increasing adoption of generative AI, from regulating data used to train models to protecting authors’ rights in the era of data mining.

Finally, the Grupo de Investigación Arquitecturas Inteligentes Aplicadas (AIA) from the Universidad de Alicante, represented by José García Rodríguez, Higinio Mora Mora, Jorge Azorín López, and Andrés Fuster Guilló, showcased their research lines in areas such as cybersecurity, computer vision, and artificial intelligence. Their developments range from home assistance to Industry 4.0.

The event underscored the necessity of an ethical and regulated approach to AI development, as well as the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to address the challenges posed by this transformative technology.