CyberTraining: Pilot: An Artificial Intelligence Bootcamp for Cyberinfrastructure Professionals

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is used in many aspects of modern life such as language translation and image analysis. In addition to consumer and business applications, researchers are increasingly using AI techniques in their scientific processes. The growth in AI is heavily dependent on new Deep Learning (DL) and Machine Learning (ML) schemes.

As datasets and DL and ML models become more complex the computing requirements for AI increase and researchers turn to high performance computing (HPC) facilities to meet these needs. This is leading to a critical need for a Cyberinfrastructure (CI) workforce that supports HPC systems with expertise in AI techniques and underlying technology. This project will pilot an AI bootcamp for CI professionals that is targeted based on the professional's job requirements.

After attending the bootcamp CI professionals will be better equipped to provide computing and data services to AI research users. This in turn will broaden adoption and effective use of advanced CI by researchers in a wide range of disciplines and will have an impact on science and corresponding benefits to society from their successes. The training materials developed during this project will be openly shared with the CI community so that others can use and adapt the materials for similar training activities.

This project is novel in taking a holistic approach to addressing the AI expertise gap for CI professionals. The project will develop an AI Bootcamp for CI professionals with the overarching goal of increasing the confidence and effectiveness of their support of AI researchers. The project leverages the CI professionalization efforts of the Campus Research Computing Consortium (CaRCC) to organize the training outcomes based on four "facings" (Strategy/Policy facing, Researcher facing, Software/Data facing, and Systems facing).

The project will identify learning outcomes for each CI facing and organize training tracks customized to specific roles. For this pilot the project is focused on developing a comprehensive training experience for Software/Data facing CI professionals. The AI Bootcamp will be offered virtually over twelve weeks.

The instructional materials will be shared openly as notebooks, slide-decks and containers as appropriate so that they can be used for other training offerings. The project team is comprised of CI professionals, experienced in training CI users and providing CI operations, and Computer Science faculty members, experienced in offering courses in Data Analytics, AI and High Performance AI with active AI-based research programs.

Drawing on extensive experience and materials in hands-on experiential learning for AI, the project team will create a comprehensive curriculum spanning foundational AI, software frameworks, and high performance computing for AI in a modularized virtual format to minimize barriers to access for the CI professional learner.

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.