The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), a government agency that supports fundamental research and education in science and engineering, announced that they are establishing seven new artificial intelligence institutes at various locations in the U.S., which will yield multiple industries economic, health, and safety benefits. The two government agencies will be working closely to incorporate AI into both academia and industries including agriculture and research, helping to define the roles it will have in the coming years.
 
The USDA reports that the national network of Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes represents “the nation’s most significant federal investment in AI research and workforce development to date.” The $20 million investment in each of the five NSF AI institutes, and the two USDA-NIFA AI Institutes is just the beginning of this program, with more institute announcements anticipated in the coming years.
 
“This major federal investment in next generation agriculture signals our commitment to keeping American agricultural innovation on the leading edge of global science,” USDA-NIFA Acting Director Parag Chitnis said. “These future-focused centers of innovation will use the latest techniques from all corners of science, including molecular science, engineering, and robotics to seek solutions for myriad challenges facing agriculture, from crop improvement and animal welfare to labor shortages and farm safety.”
 
The strategic partnership between the USDA-NIFA and NSF with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration, and the U.S. public research universities, these institutes will serve as hubs in a broader nationwide network aimed at improving American competitiveness, in areas such as extreme weather preparedness, K-12 education advancement, workforce development, and agricultural resilience and sustainability.
 
Each of these Institutions will have a unique focus. The USDA-NIFA AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems, led by a team at the University of California Davis, will utilize AI and bioinformatics to research biological data and processes. They will focus on issues of molecular breeding to optimize traits for yield, crop quality, pest/disease resistance, agricultural production, food processing and distribution, and nutrition.
 
The USDA-NIFA AI Institute for Future Agricultural Resilience, Management, and Sustainability will be led by a team at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will advance AI research into areas such as robotics, machine learning, and more, to address labor shortages, efficiency, and welfare in animal agriculture, environmental resilience of crops, and soil health. The institute will feature a joint Computer Science and Agricultural degree to foster collaboration in AI-driven agriculture research.

The Institutes 
The NSF AI Institute for Research on Trustworthy AI in Weather, Climate, and Coastal Oceanography will be led by a team at the University of Oklahoma Norman, and will use AI to focus on atmospheric and ocean science, as well as risk communication to develop AI that addresses pressing environmental concerns. It will offer AI certificate programs aimed at workforce skills, to advance the ways in which industries deal with environmental challenges.
 
The NSF AI Institute for Foundations of Machine Learning, led by a team at the university of Texas, Austin, will focus on major theoretical challenges in AI. Its partners will include large industrial technology companies in the city of Austin, and it will offer major online coursework and research initiatives that will bring current AI tools to thousands of students and professionals.
 
The NSF AI Institute for Student-AI Teaming, led by a team at the University of Colorado, Boulder, is developing groundbreaking Ai that helps both students and teachers work and learn together more effectively, engagingly, and equitably, the USDA said. The vision is to develop AI partners that will observe, participate in, and facilitate collaborative learning conversations by interacting naturally through speech, gesture, gaze, and facial expression in real-world classrooms.
 
The NSF AI Institute for Molecular Discovery, Synthetic Strategy, and Manufacturing, led by a team at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, will focus on the development of new AI-enabled tools and serve as a training ground for scientists in the areas of chemical synthesis and bioengineering.
 
Lastly, the NSF AI Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions, led by a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, will incorporate workforce development, digital learning, outreach, and knowledge transfer programs to advance physics knowledge.
 
“The AI institutes being awarded today comprise large, multi-disciplinary, and multi-sector collaborations: they bring together consortia of dozens of universities and other organizations, ultimately spanning academia, government, and industry,” Michael Kratsios, U.S. Chief Technology Officer, said. “In effect, over the next five years, some of the best minds in the country will be tackling some of the grandest challenges that we face, both in terms of new AI techniques as well as breakthroughs in the fields of science and engineering and sectors of our economy. And along the way, they will nurture the future American workforce in AI research and practice.”