NRT-AI: AWARE-AI: AWAREness for Sensing Humans Responsibly with AI

Sensing-based artificial intelligence (AI) systems use information gathered from humans to make predictions and respond to humans in numerous applications. As these systems become more widespread, enormous research challenges are emerging. These AI systems must react responsibly and flexibly, respect diversity and privacy, and achieve trustworthiness to avoid unintended consequences at a larger societal scale.

To address these challenges, gaps in graduate education programs related to AI will need to be bridged to create a growing and sustainable pipeline of well-rounded AI scientists and engineers who understand software, hardware, human-computer interaction, and human cognitive aspects of this technology, as well as ethical considerations. To ensure AI technology is well-designed to improve all citizens' productivity, welfare, and safety, it is also vital to build an inclusive research workforce.

This National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) award to the Rochester Institute of Technology will provide unique training to a diverse student body, whose members will be future research leaders in developing responsible, human-aware AI technologies. The project anticipates training 75 master’s and Ph.D. students, including 25 funded trainees, from computing and information sciences, engineering, mathematics, psychology, and imaging science.

The Awareness for Sensing Humans Responsibly with AI (AWARE-AI) NRT project will enhance U.S. competitiveness in AI and help develop a diverse workforce by providing funded traineeships to Deaf and Hard of Hearing, female, African American, Latino/a American, and Native American students.

The AWARE-AI NRT project includes the combination of convergent research and educational experiences to support trainees in achieving several learning outcomes: (a) cross-disciplinary breadth in human-sensing AI systems, (b) depth in relevant science and technology skills, (c) depth in advanced research practices, and (d) holistic diversity and inclusion competency. Innovative educational features include visits to facilitate early connections between trainees and minority-serving institutions, roundtables on advanced research practices, dataset development, lab rotations, national lab and industry internships, seed-funded projects, and diversity and inclusion workshops.

Trainees will advance scientific knowledge in human-sensing AI across four research tracks linked to use-inspired areas: (1) algorithms and software for the flexible processing of multimodal-heavy input to enhance interaction systems, (2) human-robot collaboration and efficient AI technology to improve human trust, safety, and comfort in manufacturing contexts, (3) design methods for usable and accessible AI-based systems for understudied older adults with hearing loss, and (4) extension of cognition research to underserved populations for discoveries that broadly catalyze human-aware AI. External program evaluation, dissemination of open-source training materials and findings, and a new database of human-sensing AI datasets for research and teaching will stimulate convergent research and support replication of effective program elements at other institutions.

The NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program is designed to encourage the development and implementation of bold, new potentially transformative models for STEM graduate education training. The program is dedicated to effective training of STEM graduate students in high priority interdisciplinary or convergent research areas through comprehensive traineeship models that are innovative, evidence-based, and aligned with changing workforce and research needs.

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.