A new centre designed to place Australia at the global forefront of research into safe and responsible artificial intelligence has been launched today.
The landmark collaboration will bring together experts from Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, and The University of Adelaide, in partnership with the South Australian Government.
The Responsible AI Research (RAIR) Centre will be located at Adelaide’s Lot Fourteen and will leverage world-leading expertise from CSIRO’s data and digital specialist arm, Data61 and The University of Adelaide’s Australian Institute for Machine Learning (AIML).
RAIR Centre will initially focus research around four key themes:
- Tackling misinformation: developing methods that enable attribution of trusted data sources to AI-generated content to avoid misinformation and misuse.
- Safe AI in the real world: exploring the foundational science questions that underpin how AI interacts with the physical world, linking to areas including robotics.
- Diverse AI: developing AI systems that can accurately assess their own knowledge limitations and reliably express uncertainty, helping to reduce AI hallucinations.
- AI that can explain its actions: developing AI that understands cause-and-effect relationships, beyond correlations, particularly in complex and dynamic environments.
Quotes attributable to Professor Elanor Huntington, Executive Director - Digital, National Facilities & Collections, CSIRO:
“This centre will bring together expertise from two of the country’s leading responsible AI research institutions to collaboratively tackle some of the most pressing grand challenges of our time.
“Responsible AI is an emerging field; this centre shows Australia’s very real commitment to strong global leadership in the development of innovative technologies for deploying AI.”
Quotes attributable to Professor Simon Lucey, Director of the Australian Institute for Machine Learning:
“AI is already having a significant impact on the lives of Australians. There are, however, sectors that have not previously benefited from AI due to concerns about safety and reliability. Safeguards alone are not enough; we also need innovation.
"The establishment of the Responsible AI Research (RAIR) Centre will combine AIML's expertise with CSIRO’s Data61 and the Government of South Australia to generate innovative AI that can be deployed in a safe and reliable manner. Our research will have a national and global impact as we strive for AI solutions that will enhance the lives of everyday Australians. The Centre will position Australia as a world leader in responsible AI research, opening up new avenues for investment and economic opportunity. We are excited to launch this valuable new initiative and to continue AIML's tradition of being at the forefront of AI research impact.”