Even though artificial intelligence (AI) technology can be controversial, it is being used more and more. For example, the U.S. Department of Energy just announced $68 million in funding for AI projects.
In a press release , the department said that this AI research is a “top priority” and that funding would go towards 43 awards for 11 multi-institution projects. Work on these projects would take place over the next three years, and $20 million is expected to come from fiscal year 2024 dollars, contingent on congressional appropriations.
Before the funding is issued, the DOE and grant applicants will go through a negotiation process.
All of the projects under consideration for funding would focus on developing ways to create machine learning and deep learning models that can be used across a range of applications. Those models would be used to automate workflow in laboratories, accelerate scientific programming and more, per the DOE.
“The possibilities are endless,” said the press release. “Models will also be created using privacy-preserving and distributed methods and to develop energy-efficient AI algorithms and hardware for science.”
With the growth of AI, there has already been research that indicates the technology can have a positive impact. Audacy has reported on how it may help emergency room triage and eliminate milk allergies . However, there are also clear downsides to AI. Audacy has also reported on its role in spreading misinformation about everything from U.S. elections to the Holocaust , how Google’s AI search tool often gets things wrong , and how workers say implementing AI just gives them more work to do .
Another issue related to AI is its impact on the environment. In fact, its on pace to consume more power than some small countries.
Recently, there has been considerable investment into finding ways to integrate AI into our lives. Last month, California announced a historic public-private partnership to invest $250 million in local newsrooms for journalism and AI research. Earlier this year, a press release from IBM revealed that a group of major tech companies planned to provide new AI training for 95 million workers .
Executive Order 14110 from the White House also seeks to guide “ Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence ,” and it notes that the technology “holds extraordinary potential for both promise and peril.”
According to the DOE, the $68 million in grant funding “expands on efforts” directed to the department in the executive order. In particular, it said the order called for the development of foundation models for science.
“Progress in AI is inspiring us to imagine faster and more-efficient ways to do science,” said Ceren Susut, DOE associate director of Science for Advanced Scientific Computing Research. “These research efforts will make scientific AI both more trustworthy and more energy efficient, unlocking AI’s potential to accelerate scientific discovery. There is a huge variety in the number of applications where scientists can use AI, from the laboratory to the field to producing scientific research.”
More information about projects included in the DOE funding package is available here .
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