Government invests in responsible AI hub

The Australian Government has announced investment in a new research centre that aims to tackle the challenges of AI adoption.

Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic officially launched the Adelaide-based Responsible AI Research Centre (RAIR) on Monday, working with the South Australian Government.

The government says the RAIR will embark on world-leading research that will ensure AI implementation addresses misinformation risks, considers diverse perspectives and can explain its actions.

Backed with an initial $20 million combined investment from CSIRO, the South Australian Government and the University of Adelaide, RAIR will see experts from CSIRO and the University of Adelaide join forces to lead the research.

Focusing on building foundational AI models and better understanding how AI works, the RAIR Centre will explore 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.
   

The RAIR Centre will be located at Adelaide’s Lot Fourteen, backed with expertise from CSIRO’s data and digital specialist arm, Data61, and the University of Adelaide’s Australian Institute for Machine Learning (AIML).

The RAIR Centre is expected to be fully operational in early 2025.

“We know AI can be hugely helpful for Australian businesses, but the benefits of AI can only be realised when it can be trusted,” said Husic. “AI and automation could generate between $170 and $600 billion each year towards Australia’s GDP by 2030, so it’s crucial that local businesses can rely on the latest research to use AI safely.

“We’ve revitalised our National AI Centre and are working toward mandatory guardrails to manage AI risks, with the RAIR centre further supporting our efforts to tackle some of the biggest concerns around AI.”

“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,’ said CSIRO Executive Director, Digital, National Facilities & Collections Elanor Huntington. “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.”

Image credit: iStock.com/Supatman

Originally published here.