Lt. Gov. Chris Cournoyer visits Innovate 120 for student presentations

Yesterday the Lt. Gov. Chris Cournoyer and state representative Norlin Mommsen were in Maquoketa at Innovate 120 for some presentations. This is Innovate 120’s 5th year with their program that allows high school students or recent graduates the opportunity to engage with large companies from across the nation to help develop products and services. They often have a set theme and goal in mind, often to address a problem or issue by either improving a product or service a company already offers, or coming up with a completely new product or service to be utilized. The Lt. Gov. has been very supportive of this endeavor and opportunity ever since it started.

This years presentations created by the groups all focused on AI and how it can be used safely, effectively, and ethically in various situations and areas. Before the presentations started, the Lt. Gov. said that the Iowa STEM program was looking into AI for development and research, and that those in Iowa’s government wanted to avoid doing what Colorado did with AI regulation – According to the Lt. Gov. the CO government signed a bill into law that attempted to regulate AI usage by businesses, but that the wording was vague and caused businesses to not engage with AI in any capacity, leading to businesses not wanting to establish or expand within the state – The Lt. Gov. said that she wanted Iowa to go in the other direction, and as she put it, “to ensure that Iowa is able to compete in the global state” in relation to AI and AI development/research.

The 2 presentations done by student groups talked about 2 very different applications and uses of AI. The first one was through the app “elbi” which utilizes AI to offer care to the caregivers of dementia patients, offering a variety of improvements and updates to correct gaps that exist in the app/AI as it is today. As part of their project they consulted experts in the fields they were addressing/utilizing, including a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, a Caregiving Support Coach with 25+ years of experience, and a Mental Health Counselor. The project also utilized Reddit to gather information from those who are caregivers to better understand the exact issues and struggles caregivers go through. The survey was anonymous as to better protect the identity and well-being those who participated in it. The update to the app that they group came up with covers many more areas than it does currently, and would be a much better tool for caregivers. The app would prioritize the health and wellbeing of caregiver, which often goes unrecognized or unsupported. The AI would have access to psychological studies, information of dementia progression and caregiving in each stage, knowledge of legal requirements and information, and much more. The revisions to the app would drastically aid in the caregivers ability to access any information or support they would need at anytime they needed it, and would also allow of ease of collaboration between family members of dementia patients. The Lt. Gov. commented on the information and statistics the group had, saying that she was informed of just how many caregivers there are, the amount they take on, and how little support they often receive. She was impressed with all of their work, and asked a few follow-up and clarifying questions, which the students were able to answer.

The other presentation was to implement an onboard AI training system in John Deere equipment to allow for quick, easy, and accurate information about the equipment being operated. The new service would replace the help/assistance button in John Deere equipment and be called “JDAI”. Some of the research cited for this project was that more and more operators of these machines are less experienced hired hands, and not the owners. This leads to an increase in the amount of calls and assistance needed for the equipment being operated. According to a P&K technician, they stated, “During harvest, I get about 100 phone calls a day. The majority are solved by simple walkthroughs, but other times a follow up is required.”  The onboard AI system would be available for these walkthroughs, and would also take geographical and topographical information from previous years harvests to better provide support and guidance when needed. It would also have a profile for any individual that would operate the machine, being able to learn and adapt to each person for better assistance. The project aims to increase the visibility, accessibility, and simplicity of such information and help, and all of that culminates into the JD AI assistant. The Lt. Gov. complimented the group on their projects research and development. Mommsen asked some questions about the project and some other clarifying questions.

Overall the presentations went very well, and both the Lt. Gov. and state representative Norlin Mommsen were impressed with the students research and development in their respective areas. Innovate 120 has been giving high school students the opportunity for such development and research since 2021, and pushes the students to improve alongside the advancement of technology.