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Teams Including UMD Researchers Among 7 Winners of Funding
By Tom Ventsias
Led by the University of Maryland, TRAILS was launched in May 2023 with a $20 million award from the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The institute is focused on developing, building and modeling participatory research that—over time—will increase trust in AI.
Illustration courtesy of TRAILS
The Institute for Trustworthy AI in Law & Society (TRAILS), a coalition of four academic institutions led by the University of Maryland, has awarded over $750,000 in new seed funding for projects meant to transform the practice of AI from one that is driven solely by technological development to one that encourages tech innovation and competitiveness through cutting-edge science focused on human rights and human flourishing.
The seven seed grants announced on Tuesday—each between $50,000 to $150,000—went to faculty and students from UMD, George Washington University, Morgan State University and Cornell University.
The interdisciplinary projects will address topics that include ensuring the trustworthiness of public safety information that large language models (LLMs) extract during disasters, identifying instructional needs for youth and families interested in using AI, and helping a wide range of stakeholders engage more fully in the governance of AI.
The projects were chosen based on their potential to advance TRAILS’ four core research thrusts: participatory AI design, methods, sense-making and governance. They also enact the institute’s commitment to advancing scientific knowledge in concert with educating and empowering AI users, said Hal Daumé III, a professor of computer science at the University of Maryland and the director of TRAILS.
“As we continue to expand our impact and outreach, we’re aware of the need to align our technological expertise—which is quite robust—with new methodologies we’re developing that can help people and organizations realize the full potential of AI,” Daumé said. “If people don’t understand and see what they care about reflected in AI technology, they’re not going to trust it. And if they don’t trust it, they won’t want to use it.”
Daumé, in addition to his leadership of TRAILS, is the director of the Artificial Intelligence Interdisciplinary Institute at Maryland (AIM), which brings together AI experts across the UMD campus to focus on responsible, ethical development and use of the technology to advance public good in industry, government and society.
This third round of TRAILS seed funding is just a first step toward moving many of the newly funded initiatives forward, said David Broniatowski, a professor of engineering management and systems engineering at George Washington University. Broniatowski, who is the deputy director of TRAILS, says that ultimately, the TRAILS-sponsored research teams are expected to seek external funding or form new partnerships that will further grow their work.
He gave the example of a project selected during the first round of TRAILS seed funding in the fall of 2024, wherein researchers wanted to expand teaching best practices by modifying AI tools originally developed to support excellence in instruction in core subjects. That work led to a series of additional grants, culminating in a $4.5 million grant from the Gates Foundation/Walton Family Foundation to improve AI as a tool to strengthen math instruction and boost learning.
“We’re investing in the future of AI with this latest cohort of seed projects,” Broniatowski said. “These ambitious endeavors are strategically aligned, impact-driven initiatives that will advance the science underlying AI adoption, shaping future conversations on AI governance and trust.”
The seven projects announced this week to receive TRAILS seed funding are:
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