Last month, GW’s Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (TAI) initiative hosted a reception to kick off the first in-person gathering of the U.S. Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute Consortium (AISIC).
First established in February 2024 within the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST), the consortium comprises more than 290 member companies and organizations, as well as various local and state governments. These organizations are on the frontlines of creating and using the most advanced AI systems and developing the foundational scientific research that will help us better understand how to fully harness the benefits of AI, while mitigating potential risks.
AISIC members have convened virtually to advance scientific research and collaboration, but the Plenary, hosted by the Institute for Trustworthy AI in Law and Society (TRAILS), which GW co-leads with the University of Maryland, was the first in which consortium members had the opportunity to gather in person.
“Many of us are part of AISIC because we see the importance of working together - across industry, government, and academia - to co-create the early governance structures that will define how emerging AI capabilities are embedded in systems and society,” Zoe Szajnfarber, the faculty director for GW TAI, explained. “GW TAI prioritizes creating a neutral ground to facilitate these types of interdisciplinary conversations,” Szajnfarber emphasized.
GW TAI is a pan-university initiative that emphasizes impact-focused interdisciplinary research, delivers timely education at all levels, and aims to inform policy, grounded in science. The initiative leverages GW’s strategic location in the nation’s capital and its interdisciplinary, collaborative environment to convene trustworthy AI scholars and experts.
GW TAI hosted a reception the evening before the Plenary to do just that – create a space for open, collaborative dialogue between GW TAI students and AISIC members. Reception attendees networked with one another and had the chance to hear directly from GW TAI students about their innovative research.
From exploring how companion robots can be integrated as part of a caregiving team for children with autism to piloting a course-level AI mentor across different academic disciplines, GW TAI students are on the cutting edge of trustworthy AI research that will undoubtedly inform the next generation of AI development and use in government, academia, and industry.
GW TAI’s educational programs, including the Designing Trustworthy AI in Systems PhD Fellowship, prepare its students to assess emerging technologies in the contexts in which they’re used and to consider socio-technical questions of ethics, policy, trust, and bias at every stage of design. Students receive not only one-of-a-kind, cross-cutting education in this emerging field but also access to the larger community of AI experts and professionals like those in attendance at the reception.
“There’s immense value in what GW TAI does to bring together the AI community. These events bring together an interdisciplinary group from many different areas, like computer science, policy, public health, and engineering. Normally, these professionals are not in contact with one another, and they all have good ideas that help advance each other’s work,” said Artin Yousefi, a GW TAI student. Artin appreciates these events from a global perspective and a personal one, adding, “I’ve gotten great feedback from these events, they help me gain perspective on my own research.”
The AISIC Plenary reception was just one example of how GW TAI convenes AI experts from academia, industry, and the government. Visit the GW TAI website for more information on the initiative and future GW TAI events.