Uber announces the 2019 Uber AI Residency

On Tuesday, Uber announced the 2019 Uber AI Residency. The Uber AI residency was established in 2018. It is a 12-month training program for recent college and master’s graduates, professionals interested in reinforcing their AI skills. It is also for those with quantitative skills, interested in becoming AI researchers at Uber AI Labs or Uber Advanced Technologies Group (ATG).

Artificial intelligence at Uber

AI is a rapidly growing area across both research and applications, including self-driving vehicles. General AI and applied machine learning through Uber AI, and AI for self-driving cars through Uber ATG are the major areas where AI is growing at Uber.

Uber AI

The teams at Uber AI are working towards providing and improving services in the fields of computer vision, conversational AI, and sensing and inference from sensor data. Uber AI Labs under Uber AI organization is composed of two main wings which reinforce each other. The two wings are foundational core research and Connections group. They focus on the translation of research into applications for the company. They work in collaboration with the platform and product teams.

AI Labs Core

The AI Labs Core work on diverse topics including the spectrum from probabilistic programming, Bayesian inference, reinforcement learning, neuroevolution, safety, core deep learning research and artificial intelligence.

AI Labs Connections

AI Labs Connections transformed Bayesian optimization from a research field into a service for the company. AI Labs Connects has collaborations with teams working on conversational AI, natural language processing, mapping, forecasting, fraud detection, Uber’s Marketplace, and many more.

Uber Advanced Technologies Group (ATG)

The self-driving vehicle is one of the most ambitious AI applications at Uber. AI helps in perceiving the surrounding environment using multiple sensors, predicting the motion and intent of actors in the near future. The important components of the self-driving technology are creating high definition maps and localizing self-driving vehicles. Also, providing critical data about the vehicle’s environment is equally important.

The Residency program

The residency program involves the selection of Uber AI Residents across AI Labs in San Francisco and ATG in Toronto and San Francisco. The residents will be given an opportunity to pursue interests across academic and applied research. They will also be meeting with researchers at AI Labs and ATG. The residents will get a chance of working with Uber product and engineering teams to converge on initial project directions.

The 2018 residency class is currently working on foundational research projects in deep learning, probabilistic modeling, reinforcement learning, as well as computer vision. Their results have been submitted to top scientific venues, and their contributions also directly impact Uber’s business in partnership with Uber’s technology teams.

Applicants can apply from December 10th, 2018 to January 13, 2019, at 11:59 p.m. EST. Apply here.

Read more about this news on the official page of Uber Engineering.

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