Theory meets practice – together we have an impact on the reality around us
UniLodz is an open and engaged community that believes that science should extend beyond the university walls, become a part of the reality around us, and provide solutions to problems not only for the academic community but also for the local community. The signing of the letter of intent between UniLodz and the SpeakLeash Foundation not only unites the academic community with a grassroots civic initiative, but above all, demonstrates that the development of modern technologies can have simultaneous scientific, educational and social dimensions.
Combining experience is the most important thing here. This involves examining very important issues from the perspective of practitioners working at the foundation and, at the same time, from the perspective of scientists working at the university. This exchange of experiences is the key to success
– said dr hab. Krzysztof Pabis, Associate Professor at the University of Lodz, the UniLodz Vice-Rector for Popularisation of Science and Education at Tuesday's meeting.
What does this cooperation mean?
Popularisation of science is the art of telling stories about the world in a way that is understandable, inspiring and engaging. It's a bridge between scientists and those who want to know more – starting a partnership with the SpeakLeash Foundation is one such bridge, between the academic community and grassroots civic initiatives. Together, we can exchange knowledge, experiences and discover more – the signed agreement opens new opportunities for the entire academic community at the University of Lodz.
The UniLodz scientists will be able to:
- participate in the development and testing of Bielik,
- conduct research on the use of Bielik,
- co-create solutions supporting education and culture.
The UniLodz students will gain:
- the opportunity to participate in innovative projects,
- the opportunity to volunteer in a unique, nationwide initiative.
SpeakLeash Foundation – meet the creators of Bielik
The SpeakLeash Foundation is a unique community of volunteers who have dedicated themselves to creating Bielik – the first family of Polish language models powered by artificial intelligence. It operates non-profit, completely free and after hours – without institutional funding and is supported solely by donations and community support. The Foundation's goal is to build AI tools developed in Poland that are transparent, open and rooted in our language and culture.
The SpeakLeash Foundation is developing around Bielik further projects that combine innovation with cultural and safety concerns. These include:
Citizen Bielik, i.e., a citizen science initiative whose goal is to create the largest open archive of Polish cultural heritage – photos, recordings, history and traditions, which in the future will also be used to train Polish AI models.
Bielik Guard Sójka, which was discussed at the meeting by the representative of UniLodz and the SpeakLeash Foundation, dr hab. Anita Ciesielska, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection of the University of Lodz:
Another new model that premiered recently – Sójka is intended to protect all of us, children and young people, from harmful content that we can find on the Internet.
The Sójka model is an AI protection system designed to detect and block harmful content in real time, increasing user safety and teaching responsible use of new technologies.
Bielik AI is now easily accessible to everyone, as Maciej Szymański from the SpeakLeash Foundation said:
Each of us can download our model from the Hugging Face platform and install it on a small computer, because this model is so small (it has only 11 billion parameters) that it can be run locally on a powerful home machine, and if an organisation has its own infrastructure with relatively good computing power, it can also use the language model with full comfort.
The signing of this agreement proves that at UniLodz, science is not confined within the walls of the academy, but lives in dialogue with society!
