By Kathleen Berger, Executive Producer for Science and Technology

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is investing $3 million over the next five years in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Advancements and Convergence in Computational, Environmental, and Social Sciences (AI-ACCESS) program at Washington University in St. Louis.

“AI is quickly dominating the education and training space,” said William Yeoh, associate professor of computer science & engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering and director of AI-ACCESS. “We envision it to be a tool that is going to be needed by anyone who graduates and entering the workforce in the future.”

AI-ACCESS draws from a range of disciplines including computer science, environmental science and engineering, environmental justice, public health and social work.

“Traditionally, AI has been studied mostly in the computer science area. But we are starting to realize that it is now moving into all types of research and all disciplines,” said Yeoh.

Yeoh said the goal of AI-ACCESS is to build a cohort of new investigators trained at the intersection of AI, environmental science and social science to harness innovative computational tools to address global challenges including climate change.

“Researchers will collaborate with social scientists and environmental scientists,” he said. “The funding from this program is going to be entirely used to fund WashU PhD students.”

Yeoh said across the campus, PhD students and faculty will collaborate on projects investigating the environmental policy and social responses to climate change through emerging data-driven methods.

“AI could provide methods for which we can understand the data that is collected better, it could inform what kinds of data is missing and needs to be collected,” Yeoh explained. “It’s about using the data to improve lives or improve the environment. What we see is that this mechanism will enable researchers, let’s say someone in engineering, who wants to work with someone in Earth and Planetary Sciences, who also want to work with someone in social work.”

Yeoh said the funding opportunity now allows them to hire students to work in this interdisciplinary space. He said the funding will help train new investigators to address global challenges.

“And create something new that might not have been possible before.”