On September 18, 2024, the Institute of Smart Systems and Artificial Intelligence (ISSAI) had the honor of hosting distinguished guests and invited speakers of the NU Annual Research Conference, dedicated to celebrating the 125th anniversary of Kanysh Satpayev, the visionary founder of the Kazakh National Academy of Sciences, organized at Nazarbayev University. The conference brings together top professors and leading researchers, scholars, and students from across Kazakhstan and abroad.
The delegation of esteemed guests accompanied by Professor Ilesanmi Adesida, Provost of Nazarbayev University, included Prof. Andreas Cangellaris, President of NEOM University, Prof. Rashid Bashir, Professor of Bioengineering and Dean of Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Prof. Mohan Kankanhalli, Provost’s Chair Professor of Computer Science and Director of the NUS AI Institute from the National University of Singapore, Dr. Veena Sahajwalla, Australian Research Council Laureate Professor from the University of New South Wales, and Prof. Sarkyt Kudaibergenov from the Institute of Polymer Materials and Technology.
The Founding Director of ISSAI, Prof. Atakan Varol warmly welcomed distinguished guests, introducing them to the Institute’s leadership team, data scientists, and researchers. As part of the visit, Prof. Varol conducted a guided tour through ISSAI’s facilities, highlighting the cutting-edge research being carried out within the Institute. He presented an overview of ISSAI’s key projects, highlighting the Institute’s impact on AI development in Kazakhstan, and commitment to solving real social and economic problems in the country through AI and smart technologies.
During the visit, Junior data scientist Aibota Sanatbek presented her research work on a food recognition project. The guests were then introduced to ISSAI’s digital human prototype, called Aibike. Data scientists Dr. Zhanat Makhataeva and Rakhat Meiramov demonstrated how this system works. The demonstration highlighted the potential for this technology to drive areas such as education, healthcare, and customer service. Following this, ISSAI Deputy Director of Product and External Affairs Madina Abdrakhmanova provided insights into the Institute’s collaborations with governmental organizations and the private sector. She discussed how these partnerships are important to ISSAI’s mission of bridging the gap between academia and industry, promoting the application of AI technologies across various sectors. Lead data scientist Askat Kuzdeuov and data scientists Rustem Yeshpanov and Alina Polonskaya shared details of their research projects, emphasizing ISSAI’s contribution to AI development for Kazakh language.
Junior data scientists Akylbek Maxutov and Vladimir Albrekht shared their experiences with benchmarking large language models (LLMs). Specifically, they explained how their work in evaluating and improving AI language models is crucial to the development of KazLLM, which aims to create an AI system capable of understanding and generating text in Kazakh. The visit concluded with a presentation by data scientists Batyr Arystanbekov and Aspandiyar Nurimanov, who provided more detailed information about the KazLLM project. They shared the model training processes and outlined the challenges of this project.