The University of Texas at Austin is working with the MITRE Corporation on a new partnership to develop more innovative and ethical artificial intelligence research.

WHY IT MATTERS
The project is focused on work already underway by interdisciplinary teams of researchers working as part of UT Austin's Good Systems research grand challenge.

Officials say MITRE's investment of $1 million in support of Good Systems will help expand its team expertise and support a greater number of faculty members, researchers and students to engage in work on ethical AI.

"AI technologies are being adopted rapidly across a wide range of industries due to the increased efficiency and convenience they can provide," said UT and MITRE in a statement announcing the new partnership. "However, the widespread adoption of some AI technologies can cause adverse societal effects, among them job losses, increased economic inequality, infringements on privacy, over-reliance on biased algorithms and data sets, and the disruption of elections and of the social fabric."

The collaboration between Good Systems and MITRE was enabled by the UT Austin Cockrell School of Engineering, College of Natural Sciences, School of Information and Department of Defense Research Advancement.

THE LARGER TREND
UT launched Good Systems in 2019. Since then, technologists, social scientists and humanists participating in the project have been working to define, evaluate and build ethical AI systems in six core areas:

• Enhancing middle-skill work with smart hand tools.

• Designing responsible AI to curb disinformation.

• Developing AI systems for smarter cities.

• Embedding ethics in public camera AI technologies.

• Designing AI to advance racial equity.

• Living and working with robots.

ON THE RECORD
"As consequential use of AI increases, it is vital that we address safety, security and equity concerns," said Douglas Robbins, vice president of engineering and prototyping at MITRE Labs. "We are thrilled to be working with UT Austin and Good Systems to advance the underlying science in these areas that will enable us to build AI systems that can reach their full potential."

"Good Systems is honored to partner with MITRE to work toward our shared goal of ensuring that AI will serve the public interest," said Kenneth R. Fleischmann, founding chair of Good Systems and a professor in the School of Information.

"AI innovation should be leveraged to enhance our economic competitiveness and national security," he said, "and it is also critical that we harness the benefits of AI to steer toward a more equitable and just society."

Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN
Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com
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