Sec. 5401. Artificial intelligence research and education
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As part of the Initiative, the Director of the National Science Foundation shall fund research and education activities in artificial intelligence systems and related fields, including competitive awards or grants to institutions of higher education or eligible nonprofit organizations (or consortia thereof). In carrying out the activities under subsection (a), the Director of the National Science Foundation shall— support research, including interdisciplinary research on artificial intelligence systems and related areas; support collaborations among researchers across disciplines, including between social scientists and computer and data scientists, to advance research critical to the development and deployment of trustworthy artificial intelligence systems, including support for interdisciplinary research relating advances in artificial intelligence to changes in the future workplace, in a social and economic context; use the existing programs of the National Science Foundation, in collaboration with other Federal departments and agencies, as appropriate to— improve the teaching and learning of artificial intelligence systems at all levels of education; and increase participation in artificial intelligence related fields, including by individuals identified in sections 33 and 34 of the Science and Engineering Equal Opportunity Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1885a and 1885b); engage with institutions of higher education, research communities, industry, Federal laboratories, nonprofit organizations, State and local governments, and potential users of information produced under this section, including through the convening of workshops and conferences, to leverage the collective body of knowledge across disciplines relevant to artificial intelligence, facilitate new collaborations and partnerships, and identify emerging research needs; support partnerships among institutions of higher education and industry that facilitate collaborative research, personnel exchanges, and workforce development with respect to artificial intelligence systems; ensure adequate access to research and education infrastructure with respect to artificial intelligence systems, including through the development of new computing resources and partnership with the private sector for the provision of cloud-based computing services; conduct prize competitions, as appropriate, pursuant to section 24 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 ( 15 U.S.C. 3719 ); coordinate research efforts funded through existing programs across the directorates of the National Science Foundation; provide guidance on data sharing by grantees to public and private sector organizations consistent with the standards and guidelines developed under section 5301(c); and evaluate opportunities for international collaboration with strategic allies on artificial intelligence research and development.
The Director shall award grants for research on artificial intelligence systems. Research areas may include— artificial intelligence systems, including machine learning, computer vision, robotics, and hardware for accelerating artificial intelligence systems; artificial intelligence-enabled systems; fields and research areas that will contribute to the advancement of artificial intelligence systems, including information theory, causal and statistical inference, data mining, information extraction, human-robot interaction, and intelligent interfaces; fields and research areas that increase understanding of human characteristics relevant to artificial intelligence systems, including computational neuroscience, reasoning and representation, speech and language, multi-agent systems, intelligent interfaces, human-artificial intelligence cooperation, and artificial intelligence-augmented human problem solving; fields and research areas that increase understanding of learning, adaptability, and resilience beyond the human cognitive model, including topics in developmental biology, zoology, botany, morphological computation, and organismal systems; fields and research areas that will contribute to the development and deployment of trustworthy artificial intelligence systems, including— algorithmic explainability; methods to assess, characterize, and reduce bias in datasets and artificial intelligence systems; and safety and robustness of artificial intelligence systems, including assurance, verification, validation, security, and control; privacy and security, including for datasets used for the training and inference of artificial intelligence systems, and software and hardware used in artificial intelligence systems; fields and research areas that address the application of artificial intelligence systems to scientific discovery and societal challenges, including economic and public health emergencies; societal, ethical, safety, education, workforce, and security implications of artificial intelligence systems, including social impact of artificial intelligence systems on different groups within society, especially historically marginalized groups; and qualitative and quantitative forecasting of future capabilities, applications, and impacts.
In soliciting proposals for funding under this section, the Director shall permit applicants to include in their proposed budgets funding for software engineering support to assist with the proposed research. It is the sense of Congress that— a number of emerging areas of research, including artificial intelligence, have potential ethical, social, safety, and security implications that might be apparent as early as the basic research stage; the incorporation of ethical, social, safety, and security considerations into the research design and review process for Federal awards may help mitigate potential harms before they happen; the National Science Foundation’s intent to enter into an agreement with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to conduct a study and make recommendations with respect to governance of research in emerging technologies is a positive step toward accomplishing this goal; and the National Science Foundation should continue to work with stakeholders to understand and adopt policies that promote best practices for governance of research in emerging technologies at every stage of research.
Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall amend grant proposal instructions to include a requirement for an ethics statement to be included as part of any proposal for funding prior to making the award. Such statement shall be considered by the Director in the review of proposals, taking into consideration any relevant input from the peer-reviewers for the proposal, and shall factor into award decisions as deemed necessary by the Director.
Such statements may include, as appropriate— the potential societal benefits of the research; any foreseeable or quantifiable risks to society, including how the research could enable products, technologies, or other outcomes that could intentionally or unintentionally cause significant societal harm; and how technical or social solutions can mitigate such risks and, as appropriate, a plan to implement such mitigation measures. The Director shall issue clear guidance on what constitutes a foreseeable or quantifiable risk described in clause (ii)(II), and to the extent practical harmonize this policy with existing ethical policies or related requirements for human subjects.
The Director shall encourage grantees to update their ethics statements as appropriate as part of the annual reports required by all grantees under the grant terms and conditions. The Director of the National Science Foundation shall award grants for education programs at the K–12, community college, undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral, adult learning, and retraining stages of education that— support the development of a diverse workforce pipeline for science and technology with respect to artificial intelligence systems; increase awareness of ethical, social, safety, and security implications of artificial intelligence systems; and promote the widespread understanding of artificial intelligence principles and methods to create an educated workforce and general public able to use products enabled by artificial intelligence systems and adapt to future societal and economic changes caused by artificial intelligence systems.
Grants awarded under this section for education activities referred to in paragraph
(1)may be used for— collaborative interdisciplinary research, development, testing, and dissemination of K–12, undergraduate, and community college curriculum development, dissemination, and other educational tools and methods in artificial intelligence related fields; curriculum development in the field of technology ethics; support for informal education activities for K–12 students to engage with artificial intelligence systems, including mentorship programs for underrepresented populations; efforts to achieve equitable access to K–12 artificial intelligence education for populations and geographic areas traditionally underrepresented in the artificial intelligence field; training and professional development programs, including innovative pre-service and in-service programs, in artificial intelligence and related fields for K–12 teachers; efforts to improve the retention rate for researchers focusing on artificial intelligence systems at institutions of higher learning and other nonprofit research institutions; outreach programs to educate the general public about the uses of artificial intelligence and its societal implications; assessments of activities conducted under this subsection; and any other relevant activities the Director determines will accomplish the aim described in paragraph (1). The Director of the National Science Foundation shall award grants to institutions of higher education to establish traineeship programs for graduate students who pursue artificial intelligence-related research leading to a masters or doctorate degree by providing funding and other assistance, and by providing graduate students opportunities for research experiences in government or industry related to the students’ artificial intelligence studies. An institution of higher education shall use grant funds provided under clause
(i)for the purposes of— providing traineeships to students who are pursuing research in artificial intelligence leading to a masters or doctorate degree; paying tuition and fees for students receiving traineeships who are citizens, nationals, or lawfully admitted permanent resident aliens of the United States; creating and requiring courses or training programs in technology ethics for students receiving traineeships; creating opportunities for research in technology ethics for students receiving traineeships; establishing scientific internship programs for students receiving traineeships in artificial intelligence at for-profit institutions, nonprofit research institutions, or government laboratories; and other costs associated with the administration of the program. The Director of the National Science Foundation shall award fellowships to masters and doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers at institutions of higher education who are pursuing degrees or research in artificial intelligence and related fields, including in the field of technology ethics. In making such awards, the Director shall— ensure recipients of artificial intelligence fellowships are citizens, nationals, or lawfully admitted permanent resident aliens of the United States; and conduct outreach, including through formal solicitations, to solicit proposals from students and postdoctoral researchers seeking to carry out research in aspects of technology ethics with relevance to artificial intelligence systems. The Director of the National Science Foundation shall establish a program to award grants to institutions of higher education to recruit and retain tenure-track or tenured faculty in artificial intelligence and related fields. An institution of higher education shall use grant funds provided under clause
(i)for the purposes of— recruiting new tenure-track or tenured faculty members to that conduct research and teaching in artificial intelligence and related fields and research areas, including technology ethics; and paying salary and benefits for the academic year of newly recruited tenure-track or tenured faculty members for a duration of up to 3 years. The Director of the National Science Foundation shall establish a program to award fellowships to tenure-track and tenured faculty in social and behavioral sciences, ethics, law, and related fields to develop new research projects and partnerships in technology ethics, in collaboration with faculty conducting empirical research in artificial intelligence and related fields. The purposes of such fellowships are to enable researchers in social and behavioral sciences, ethics, law, and related fields to establish new research and education partnerships with researchers in artificial intelligence and related fields; learn new techniques and acquire systematic knowledge in artificial intelligence and related fields; shift their research to focus on technology ethics; and mentor and advise graduate students and postdocs pursuing research in technology ethics. A fellowship may include salary and benefits for up to one academic year and additional expenses to support coursework or equivalent training in artificial intelligence systems. Section 10(i)(5) of the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 ( 42 U.S.C. 1862n–1(i)(5) ) is amended by inserting and artificial intelligence after computer science . Section 3(b) of the Scientific and Advanced-Technology Act of 1992 ( 42 U.S.C. 1862(i) ) is amended by striking 10 and inserting 12 . The Director of the National Science Foundation shall establish national centers of scientific and technical education to advance education and workforce development in areas related to artificial intelligence pursuant to Section 3 of the Scientific and Advanced-Technology Act of 1992 ( 42 U.S.C. 1862(i) ). Activities of such centers may include— the development, dissemination, and evaluation of curriculum and other educational tools and methods in artificial intelligence related fields and research areas, including technology ethics; the development and evaluation of artificial intelligence related certifications for 2-year programs; and interdisciplinary science and engineering research in employment-based adult learning and career retraining related to artificial intelligence fields. There are authorized to be appropriated to the National Science Foundation to carry out this section $868,000,000 for fiscal year 2021.
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- 42 USC 1862n–1(i)(5)
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Sec. 5401
Artificial intelligence research and education
Cite42 USC 1862n–1(i)(5)
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