UTSA’s MATRIX AI Consortium convenes national AI leaders for inaugural NSF workshop

"We recently won the NSF ExpandAI partner AI Institute grant, where we are leading with Duke University as the partner," Kudithipudi said. "Our team's in-depth research experience combined with our reputation in hosting high-engagement AI research and training events such as the NSF AI Spring School have garnered high regard amongst researchers and students alike. The opportunity to host the NSF EXAIL workshop was truly a representation of our team's capability to cultivate collaboration."

"As awardees of the NAIAD ExpandAI initiative, we wanted to further contribute to the program's mission by organizing the first networking and collaboration workshop bringing together NSF ExpandAI and NSF AI Institute leaders," Markopoulos said. "We are hopeful that the connections made during EXAIL will evolve into productive collaborations and a well-connected community and support network."

EXAIL's agenda was structured to showcase successes, discuss challenges and exchange ideas.

"By fostering engagements between NSF ExpandAI and AI Institute leaders, we intend to strengthen the AI capabilities of participating institutions. EXAIL supports them in strategic planning for joint initiatives and to promote inclusive growth in the field," Kudithipudi said.

Participants also discussed timely issues and solutions in AI.

"There are several big challenges in the field of AI today," said Abi Ilumoka, NSF program director. "Probably the most critical challenges revolve around ethical concerns, bias, data security and privacy. AI systems learn from the data they are fed; they are essentially sophisticated pattern recognition machines that analyze and identify patterns within huge datasets to improve their ability to perform tasks. At events such as SAIL and EXAIL, we can have honest exchanges about the critical challenges and hear from colleagues who have taken time to research and study AI in various domains."