National University of Singapore (NUS) has set up a new facility to drive research, development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies across various sectors for "public good".
The new NUS AI Institute (NAII) will conduct research to regulate transparency and accountability to address the ethical concerns and risks associated with AI, NUS said in a statement.
NAII aims to boost Singapore's AI talent pool, bringing together experts within NUS's faculties, government agencies and industry partners.
This will allow NUS to understand real-world challenges to guide research and develop the necessary talent and technologies.
IBM and Google Cloud have been listed as initial partners, while the university is in discussions with other local and international companies on potential collaboration.
The facility has currently secured US$5.93 million (S$8 million) in external research grants, while the university itself has pledged to invest another US$14.83 million (S$20 million).
The funds will go toward three key areas -- foundational AI research, policy and societal implications of AI, and real-world domain-specific applications.
Research targets
Scientists at NAII will look to tackle challenges in fundamental areas such as AI hardware or software systems, AI theory and reasoning AI.
Some exciting projects include designing systems infrastructure that can scale to handle future AI Cloud workloads and building efficient foundational AI models with lightweight architectures to achieve faster training and inference speed.
NUS hopes this will help explore long-term problems that can lead to novel applications.
AI experts from multiple domains will collaborate to develop real-world applications across vertical including healthcare, logistics, manufacturing, humanities and social sciences, and AI for science – biology, chemistry and materials.
NAII scientists, for instance, will leverage AI to improve operational efficiency, safety and resilience of the logistics and manufacturing sector and use AI models to optimise the distribution of energy and reduce waste.
They aim to develop algorithms for building models for financial and macro-economic forecasting, which will benefit the finance and business sectors.
In the area of healthcare, researchers plan to apply AI techniques to analyse RNA-related data for the development of new therapeutics to treat infections, cancer and heart-related diseases.
NUS said the institute will also conduct research on AI governance frameworks to ensure AI development and deployment are in line with societal values, ethical considerations, and legal requirements.
It will further establish a common repository of AI tools including statistical models, foundational models, inferencing models, and generative models to support research translation and prototyping efforts.
In addition, the university said NAII's AI for education research will provide learning opportunities and internships for undergraduate and graduate students.
NUS Deputy president for research and technology, Professor Liu Bin, said, "The impact of AI on our lives, society, and economy will depend on how we develop, deploy and govern these technologies to maximise their benefits while addressing the challenges and the risks."
He added that through strategic partnerships with local and international experts from both academia and industry, the AI Institute will focus to enhance capabilities and create a dynamic ecosystem.
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