The University of Adelaide’s Australian Institute for Machine Learning (AIML), in partnership with CSIRO, has launched the Responsible AI Research Centre (RAIR) at Adelaide’s Lot Fourteen.
Set to position Australia as a world leader in responsible AI research and open new avenues for investment and economic opportunity, RAIR brings together AIML’s world-class researchers in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) with scientific experts from CSIRO.
The centre will drive cutting-edge research to inform organisations’ transparent and ethical adoption of AI technologies.
Backed by $5 million in South Australian Government investment, RAIR is expected to make a national and international impact, further reinforcing South Australia’s reputation as a leader in AI research.
The State Government’s investment in the RAIR Centre is in addition to $6 million already committed to AIML earlier this year, building on its considerable success supporting businesses to develop AI-enabled products and services, automate processes and improve productivity.
University of Adelaide Professor Vice-Chancellor and President, Peter Høj AC, said the collaborative work undertaken at the centre will directly benefit people’s lives by improving how AI is used.
“Our researchers from the University’s Australian Institute for Machine Learning will collaborate with experts from the CSIRO and the South Australian Government to apply the latest techniques in artificial intelligence,” he said.
AIML Director and RAIR Interim Director, Professor Simon Lucey, said the University of Adelaide was excited to continue AIML’s tradition of being at the forefront of AI research.
“AI is already having a significant impact on the lives of Australians. There are, however, sectors that have not previously benefited from AI due to concerns about safety and reliability. Safeguards alone are not enough; we also need innovation,” Professor Lucey said.
“RAIR’s establishment will combine AIML’s expertise with CSIRO’s Data61 and the Government of South Australia to generate innovative AI that can be deployed in a safe and reliable manner.”
Research conducted at RAIR will focus on four key research themes:
- Tackling misinformation: developing methods that enable attribution of trusted data sources to AI-generated content in order to avoid misinformation and misuse.
- Safe AI in the Real World: exploring the foundational science questions that underpin how AI interacts with the physical world, linking to areas including robotics.
- Diverse AI: developing AI systems that can accurately assess their own knowledge limitations and reliably express uncertainty, helping to reduce AI ‘hallucinations’.
- AI that can explain its actions: developing AI that understands cause-and-effect relationships, beyond correlations, particularly in complex and dynamic environments.
The RAIR Centre is expected to be fully operational by early 2025.