AI Institute for Intelligent CyberInfrastructure with Computational Learning in the Environment (ICICLE)

Although the world is witness to the tremendous successes of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies in some domains, many domains have yet to reap the benefits of AI due to the lack of easily usable AI infrastructure. The NSF AI Institute for Intelligent Cyberinfrastructure with Computational Learning in the Environment (ICICLE) will develop intelligent cyberinfrastructure with transparent and high-performance execution on diverse and heterogeneous environments.

It will advance plug-and-play AI that is easy to use by scientists across a wide range of domains, promoting the democratization of AI. ICICLE brings together a multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers, led by The Ohio State University in partnership with Case Western Reserve University, IC-FOODS, Indiana University, Iowa State University, Ohio Supercomputer Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, San Diego Supercomputer Center, Texas Advanced Computing Center, University of Utah, University of California-Davis, University of California-San Diego, University of Delaware, and University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Initially, complex societal challenges in three use-inspired scientific domains will drive ICICLE’s research and workforce development agenda: Smart Foodsheds, Precision Agriculture, and Animal Ecology.

ICICLE’s research and development includes: (i) Empowering plug-and-play AI by advancing five foundational areas: knowledge graphs, model commons, adaptive AI, federated learning, and conversational AI. (ii) Providing a robust cyberinfrastructure capable of propelling AI-driven science (CI4AI), solving the challenges arising from heterogeneity in applications, software, and hardware, and disseminating the CI4AI innovations to use-inspired science domains. (iii) Creating new AI techniques for the adaptation/optimization of various CI components (AI4CI), enabling a virtuous cycle to advance both AI and CI. (iv) Developing novel techniques to address cross-cutting issues including privacy, accountability, and data integrity for CI and AI; and (v) Providing a geographically distributed and heterogeneous system consisting of software, data, and applications, orchestrated by a common application programming interface and execution middleware. ICICLE’s advanced and integrated edge, cloud, and high-performance computing hardware and software CI components simplify the use of AI, making it easier to address new areas of inquiry.

In this way, ICICLE focuses on research in AI, innovation through AI, and accelerates the application of AI. ICICLE is building a diverse STEM workforce through innovative approaches to education, training, and broadening participation in computing that ensure sustained measurable outcomes and impact on a national scale, along the pipeline from middle/high school students to practitioners.

As a nexus of collaboration, ICICLE promotes technology transfer to industry and other stakeholders, as well as data sharing and coordination across other National Science Foundation AI Institutes and Federal agencies. As a national resource for research, development, technology transfer, workforce development, and education, ICICLE is creating a widely usable, smarter, more robust and diverse, resilient, and effective CI4AI and AI4CI ecosystem.

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.