Presentations and lively discussions over three days explored the ways in which AI and other quickly advancing technologies promise “superpowers” for 6G wireless, while at the same time posing challenges in areas such as security and sustainability.

For the first time, the Summit featured a student panel of doctoral candidates from schools including NYU Tandon School of Engineering; the University of Texas, Austin; Northeastern University; Technische Universitat Dresden; and the University of Oulu in Finland.

Nokia Peter Wenzl, President of Bell Labs Core, graciously moderated the panel, engaging the students in a spirited round of discussion about the challenges and opportunities in wireless, the benefits of industry collaboration with academia, and interesting aspects of wireless tools that attracted the students to the field.

The student panelists, who included Ruth Gebremedhin and Mingjun Ying of NYU WIRELESS, predicted that security will become a key issue as AI models are infused into research, practice, and products. They also saw AI as an accelerant for optimizing channels. Mingjun, for example, said his group is working on channel propagation measurement with an eye on exciting ways of using AI to drive applications, leading to better coverage. He said his work is about how computer vision and AI transformers can create material-embedded 3D environments for industry to help with challenges around base station deployment. “I'm interested in leveraging AI to optimize network deployment within a material-embedded 3D environment and evaluating the Venus Factor for a more sustainable wireless network,” he said.

Ruth echoed Mingjun's sentiment, noting that a focus on sustainability and efficiency is key, particularly as AI tools infuse every corner of wireless architecture. “The use of AI comes with disadvantages around power use. I am looking into how to achieve sustainability while using AI as a tool.”

Florian Gast, a Ph.D. student and research associate at TU-Dresden, said that his antenna—so to speak—went up when he heard a Summit keynote exploring how eccentricity measurements ensure equalized energy per bit, by factor of 50. But, achieving those goals requires standardized means of measuring performance, something Mingjun pointed out to chagrined laughter from the audience. “Everyone is mentioning that sustainability is key to 6G,” he concluded. “I think the problem is we don't have a unified metric to analyze power efficiency of different architectures and networks. Our group is proposing a waste factor that can be applied to any cascade system.”

During the panel, another key Summit theme found its way into the discussion: industry collaboration, about what the students were enthusiastic. AI working in an industry setting offers fresh perspectives on how research can address society's real-world needs and,