Conference: ReDDDoT Phase 1: Workshop: Responsible Artificial Intelligence to Promote Sustainability, Climate Resilience, and Equitable Access to Healthy Food in US Food Systems

Globally, food systems are responsible for 34% of greenhouse gas emissions and over 85% of water consumption, fueling climate change and negative environmental impacts. In the US, approximately 30% of the food produced goes to waste, while over 10% of households experience some level of food insecurity, largely in underrepresented communities. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a powerful technology that can revolutionize the US food and agriculture sector across the food value chain, “from farm to fork,” to meet the growing needs for environmental sustainability and climate resilience, while ensuring equitable access to healthy food for all Americans.

Before AI tools and applications are deployed widely in the food and agricultural sector, it is critical to understand needs, concerns, and potential impacts on stakeholders in the sector. The proposed convenings will assemble experts in AI and food systems and stakeholders in the food and agriculture sector to discuss how AI technology should be designed, developed, and deployed in the sector and how the sector’s workforce can be trained to support the responsible and ethical use of AI across the food value chain.

The convenings will emphasize AI that helps food systems address three societal challenges: environmental sustainability, climate resilience, and equitable access to healthy food. Convening objectives are to: 1) raise awareness and identify approaches and needs for AI to address societal challenges in food systems; 2) create education and workforce training recommendations to support responsible and ethical AI use in food systems; 3) convene stakeholders across the food value chain to build cross-sector teams to achieve objectives 1 and 2; and 4) identify potential model projects and agendas for involving stakeholders in AI design, development, and deployment in food systems to minimize harm across the technology life cycle.

The convenings will include five online Communities of Practice in January -February 2025 and an in-person Workshop in May 2025, with facilitated discussions to generate recommendations and develop partnerships that build towards the convenings’ objectives. Participants will include experts in AI and food systems and stakeholders from across the food value chain.

Output from the Communities of Practice and Workshop will be presented to the public in an online Symposium in September 2025 for a final round of feedback. Final products of the convenings will include a Responsible Design, Development, Deployment of Technology (ReDDDoT) model for AI in food systems that can inform NSF’s ReDDDoT needs and priorities for other sectors and technologies.

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.