Students study in the Thompson Library. Credit: Daniel Bush | Campus Photo Editor
In addition to Ohio State’s AI fluency initiative for students, the university hopes to advance artificial intelligence research with its AI(X) Hub.
The hub is a computing infrastructure that will work with 15 Ohio State colleges to research how AI is used across various fields, according to a university press release.
“With the launch of the AI(X) Hub, Ohio State is not just embracing the future — we are creating it. The hub will be a catalyst for groundbreaking research and transformative innovation in artificial intelligence,” University President, Walter “Ted” Carter Jr. said in a press release. “Together, we are empowering our faculty, researchers, and students to harness AI for the public good and develop solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.”?
The launch of the hub is a part of Carter’s Education for Citizenship 2035 plan, where one of the seven themes is artificial intelligence.
The hub is a tool that combines research and artificial intelligence in a world where research is still essential, but the role of AI is becoming greater, according to the press release.?
Organizations such as companies and universities alike are in the process of navigating how to function in a world with AI, and Ohio State is taking the challenge head-on, according to Ness Shroff, a key architect of the hub, an Ohio State engineering professor and an eminent scholar.
“罢丑别 AI(X) Hub is really a completely new way of doing things,” Shroff said.?
The hub is intended to accelerate research by making use of experts in various fields at Ohio State, Shroff said.
“So the AI(X) Hub is, first and foremost, going to advance fundamental frontiers in AI, but will also collaborate with experts from different parts of the university in order to solve problems that will hopefully have an impact in a more societal, global way,” Shroff said.
AI(X) is already home to research projects that are focused on the future, and will house many others to come, he said.
AI Edge, one current research project led by Shroff, is exploring how to create the next generation of communication networks to become more resilient with a greater variety of mediums.
“For example, having holographic communication in the future is very, very important,” Shroff said.?
The hub will not be a physical place, but rather a computing infrastructure. It is coupled with Ohio State’s AI fluency initiative which will educate students on how to use AI for innovation and learning, per prior Lantern reporting.
“I think it’s very important to be AI fluent, because I think AI is increasingly becoming part of our everyday needs, but it’s becoming part of the workplace,” Shroff said. “AI has a lot of different roles that it can play, and it’s important for students to understand what AI can do well and what it is not good at.”
Each incoming undergraduate student will learn AI fluency in their general education launch seminar, per prior Lantern reporting.
With AI becoming an essential aspect of current life and with the future of AI being unpredictable, Shroff said he believes students should be educated on all of AI’s risks and benefits.?
“I think anyone that tells you that they know AI is going to be risk free or that AI is going to have tremendous risks is not being truthful, because we are still too early in the development stage to fully understand the risks,” Shroff said. “But I think the important thing is that as we develop these AI tools and techniques, it is very important to take into account safety, explainability, trustworthiness, and reliability.”
Shroff said some people are worried about AI’s role in society today, especially as it continues to rapidly develop. Developers are aware of the concern and are trying to establish assurance.
“In our hiring process effort, one theme is going to be about trustworthy AI, to make sure that the AI we develop is trustworthy and the policies we put in place can facilitate trust,” Shroff said.?
Shroff said he doesn’t want AI to replace thinking, but to be used as an instrument to complete menial tasks.
“罢丑别 way I look at AI is that it should become a tool, much like the way in which you use a computer, much in the same way you would use a calculator to do things you would find perhaps not as appealing to do so that it can leave you enough time to do the creative things that you love and you enjoy doing, so AI can do a lot of the grunt work for you,” Shroff said.?
Though a leader in AI developments at Ohio State, Shroff is still aware of the risks of the system. Shroff said he believes AI can become detrimental when it is used to make judgements.
“It’s very dangerous for us to sort of give up our cognition and use AI as a crutch for thinking,” Shroff said.?
He said he is worried about young people that are using AI to answer difficult questions, which can create shallow thinking.
“You still need to put in the work. You still need to understand things,” Shroff said. “You still need to ensure that it’s your judgment that you are using on important issues and not relying on AI to make those judgments, and that’s certainly a danger that we face.”
Shroff said in the next five years, Ohio State plans on building a centralized infrastructure for its AI computing needs and figuring out how to bridge data disconnections together so that it is accessible to everyone.
On the hiring side, according to Shroff, Ohio State will be hiring at least 100 new faculty to support the AI fluency initiative over the next five years, which will be a huge investment in the development and role of AI in the university.?
“罢丑别re are always challenges in terms of getting a large organization to sort of agree on things, but actually we’ve been very fortunate, because while the rest of the country, in many ways, is playing defense, Ohio State is actually playing offense, and really is taking an aggressive stance in making investments in the AI areas,” Shroff said.?
There are many opportunities for every student to grow into the present and future roles of AI in today’s world. While the Hub will still take a few more months to fully launch, it is already a leap forward in the fields of research and education at Ohio State, Shroff said.
