NRT: Building Responsible AI Researchers: Advancing Research and Innovation at the Intersection of AI and Human Actors

Rapid advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have the potential to profoundly benefit society across a wide range of fields including education, science, manufacturing, finance, cybersecurity, criminal justice, and healthcare. However, AI technology may also cause significant harm to people and society. To address this, the RISE (Responsibility in Innovation and Scholarship Experience) traineeship will train AI graduate researchers to work with people to predict social harms that their research might create, and adapt their research accordingly. This National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) award for Boise State University will bring together faculty from Humanities and Social Sciences, along with technical experts conducting AI research in Engineering, Computer Science, and other STEM disciplines for this effort. This traineeship anticipates that twenty-five (25) students, including fifteen (15) funded trainees, will participate in the full training experience. At least 200 more students from across the university will participate in one or more elements of the training. By ensuring that human impacts and societal responsibility are foregrounded within AI research and innovation, this NRT program will equip trainees with the technical, analytical, and personal skills and orientations essential for navigating the dynamic interface between AI technologies and human stakeholders. RISE training will bridge the gap between the technical training of AI graduate researchers and the broader understanding of social issues and human values necessary for responsible development of AI applications in government, science and industry. This will be accomplished through a team-science approach, utilizing activities that include stakeholder workshops, roundtable discussions, and industry mentoring designed to bring together students, faculty, and non-academic stakeholders. By nurturing transdisciplinary and convergent connections throughout trainees’ experiences, RISE training will also promote engagement of trainees with individuals who might otherwise be denied the opportunity to learn about, provide feedback on, and participate in the development of technologies that will impact their lives. Industry partnerships and knowledge transfer infused throughout the training elements will also foster mutually beneficial collaborative work between trainees, faculty and professional experts across disciplines, which will significantly improve trainee career readiness. The ethical guidelines developed for industry and academia will support educational institutions while also encouraging industry adoption of responsible practices. The NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program is designed to encourage the development and implementation of bold, new, and potentially transformative models for STEM graduate education training. The program is dedicated to effective training of STEM graduate students in high priority interdisciplinary or convergent research areas through comprehensive traineeship models that are innovative, evidence-based, and aligned with changing workforce and research needs. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.