BACKGROUND
To achieve our goal of developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to transform US food systems by targeting its biggest challenges, the AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems will require a clear ethical framework to guide the research and the researchers. We propose to complete two projects that will contribute to socially trustworthy AI for agricultural applications. One project will result in a set of recommendations that AIFS research cores can adopt to help assure the trustworthiness of their research. The other will create an ethics curriculum for AIFS researchers, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows.
GOALS
- Identify the bright lines that cannot be crossed in research, such as fraud, plagiarism, and the mistreatment of animals in research.
- Identify the big picture in which science is situated today, such as who pays for science, who sets the agenda, who benefits from it, what the public expects and deserves in return for its support, help learners explore the public citizen role of the researcher. Questions about the information scientists and the public have and how it is disseminated determine the level of social trust. How will AI developers validate information before using it for their models and how will users trust that AI developers have access to accurate information?
- Identify the deep questions posed by AI in the food system. For example, what impact increased knowledge about plant genetics has on notions of equitable access to technologies, how AI in agriculture may affect our global responsibility to assure food security for all, or how to assess the value of AI technologies that benefit some people and make others worse off.
IMPACT
- Assure the trustworthiness of AIFS research and the ethics curriculum
