Eleven new NSF artificial intelligence research institutes announced

On 29 July, the USA National Science Foundation (NSF) announced the establishment of 11 new NSF National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes. These build on the seven institutes that were founded last year. The combined investment for these new centres totals $220 million, with each receiving around $20 million over a period of five years.

The new institutes will span seven research areas:

• Human-AI interaction and collaboration
• AI for advances in optimization
• AI and advanced cyberinfrastructure
• AI in computer and network systems
• AI in dynamic systems
• AI-augmented learning
• AI-driven innovation in agriculture and the food system

Today, we are announcing 11 new @NSF National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes. The institutes will focus on #AI-based tech to help older adults lead more independent lives, improve agriculture + food supply chains, support STEM ed & more: https://t.co/DOBWjDkqry pic.twitter.com/EyzfKDVXhB

— National Science Foundation (@NSF) July 29, 2021

The focus of each of the new research centres is as follows:

• NSF AI Institute for Collaborative Assistance and Responsive Interaction for Networked Groups – led by the Georgia Institute of Technology. This institute will focus on collaborative AI systems that learn individual models of human behaviour and use that knowledge to better collaborate and communicate in caregiving environments.
• NSF AI Institute for Advances in Optimization – led by the Georgia Institute of Technology. This institute will focus on decision-making on a large scale by fusing AI and mathematical optimization into intelligent systems.
• NSF AI Institute for Learning-Enabled Optimization at Scale – led by the University of California San Diego. This institute aims to address the fundamental challenges of scale and complexity in optimisation problems.
• NSF AI Institute for Intelligent Cyberinfrastructure with Computational Learning in the Environment – led by the Ohio State University. This institute will aim to build the next generation of cyberinfrastructure to make AI easy for people to use.
• NSF AI Institute for Future Edge Networks and Distributed Intelligence – led by the Ohio State University. This institute will design future generations of wireless edge networks.
• NSF AI Institute for Edge Computing Leveraging Next-generation Networks – led by Duke University. This institute will focus on developing edge computing.
• NSF AI Institute for Dynamic Systems – led by the University of Washington. This institute will focus on real-time learning and control of complex dynamic systems.
• NSF AI Institute for Engaged Learning – led by North Carolina State University. This institute will endeavour to advance machine learning methods to engage learners in AI-driven learning environments.
• NSF AI Institute for Adult Learning and Online Education – led by the Georgia Research Alliance. This institute will aim to develop novel AI theories and techniques for enhancing the quality of adult online education
• The USDA-NIFA Institute for Agricultural AI for Transforming Workforce and Decision Support – led by Washington State University. This institute will integrate AI methods into agriculture operations for prediction, decision support, and robotics-enabled agriculture.
• The AI Institute for Resilient Agriculture – led by Iowa State University. This institute will work on AI-driven digital twins that model plants.

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Lucy Smith , Managing Editor for AIhub.

Lucy Smith , Managing Editor for AIhub.