IUPUI Launching AI Research Institute

Shaiofen Fang will serve as the inaugural director of the Institute for Integrative Artificial Intelligence (photo courtesy of Liz Kaye

IUPUI says it will launch a research institute that will focus on developing artificial intelligence technologies, programs and applications. The university says the new Institute for Integrative Artificial Intelligence will officially open in June.

The university says the institute’s mission is to create an environment where new and innovative approaches for AI can be discovered, and will focus on the development of “major research initiatives and collaborations for high-impact AI technologies and applications.”

Shiaofen Fang, interim dean at IUPUI’s School of Science and a professor of computer and information science, will direct the new institute.

Fang said, “AI is impacting every sector in direct and indirect ways, offering countless opportunities and posing significant challenges that require new and radical approaches — particularly multidisciplinary approaches, which is a focus of this new institute.”

IUPUI says it will continue to strengthen its commitment to partnering with government, industry and nonprofit organizations through the work of the institute, and says the institute will be critical to engage companies and organizations across sectors.

“Sixty years after the term ‘artificial intelligence’ was coined, we are beginning to explore and realize the great promise of human-machine partnerships thanks to increasing computational speed and more robust data infrastructure,” said IUPUI Chancellor Nasser Paydar.

IUPUI says the institute is part of Indiana University’s strategic effort to advance the science of artificial intelligence and apply it to solve real-world problems in health, defense and many other sectors.