CiTIUS leads the Spanish research network for reliable Artificial Intelligence

Reliable Artificial Intelligence: technical, ethical, legal, cultural and socio-economic challenges': this is the full name of TELSEC4TAI, the new national research network coordinated by the Singular Centre for Research in Intelligent Technologies of the USC (CiTIUS), funded by the Spanish Research Agency (AEI) and the Ministry of Science and Innovation in the framework of the State Programme to Promote Scientific-Technical Research and its Transfer, of the State Plan for Scientific, Technical and Innovation Research 2021-2023. Through TELSEC4TAI, CiTIUS becomes the leader of the scientific network that will be responsible for ensuring reliable Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Spain.

The thematic network brings together twelve widely recognised research groups, both nationally and internationally, with the aim of creating a strong community that can lead research in the field of 'Reliable Artificial Intelligence', fostering collaboration with other international reference groups and industry, as well as among its own members.

CiTIUS researcher José María Alonso, coordinator of the network, sums up, in a few words, the main objective of this new alliance: "we aspire to generate social awareness of the importance of moving towards a new generation of intelligent devices that respect and promote the principles of non-discrimination and equity, with the capacity to explain their decisions in a way that is understandable to people".

"TELSEC4TAI not only aligns with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which recognises the right of citizens to demand explanations of automated decisions derived from personal data," continues José M. Alonso, "but also with the new European regulation on AI ('AI Act') voted by the European Parliament this month, highlighting the importance of developing people-centric AI to make citizens more informed and able to make better decisions," he explains.

The new network is launched with the following objectives: to maximise collaboration between network members, with a special interest in multidisciplinary research; to maximise, at the same time, opportunities for young researchers with talent in this field; to promote the internationalisation and recognition of research carried out in Spain; and to promote collaboration between academia, industry and the public sector in the development and use of AI. "Through the proposed actions, we also seek to raise social awareness of the relevance of having reliable AI to address social challenges, a cross-cutting objective for the network," concludes José M. Alonso.

Highlights

To achieve these objectives, the network will implement different actions. These include the promotion of co-authorship of publications, co-supervision of students and calls for proposals for joint projects. It will also promote the organisation of tutorials, workshops and special sessions at international conferences, as well as research stays, discussion days and summer schools.

To promote cooperation with industry, a discussion forum will be set up to encourage the creation of pilots, controlled tests and voluntary certifications, among others. In addition, scientific dissemination will be promoted with activities through the web, social networks and participation in scientific dissemination events.

Together with CiTIUS, two other research centres (Institute for Research in Artificial Intelligence - IIIA-CSIC and Barcelona Supercomputing Center-National Supercomputing Centre - BSC-CNS) and nine Spanish universities also participate in the new network: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC), Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), Universidad de Alicante (UA), Universidad de Granada (UGR), Universidad Pública de Navarra (UPNA), Universitat de València (UV), Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM), Universitat Jaume I (UJI) and Universidad de Jaén (UJAEN).

The network that is now born is aligned with the objectives of the ENIA (Spanish National AI Strategy), and will therefore focus on boosting education, training and talent attraction, striving to generate an environment of trust associated with AI. To this end, it will promote human-centred AI that is conscious of ethics for social welfare, and will develop inclusive and sustainable AI.

Those responsible for the new network also emphasise that "it will certainly also be an important resource on which the AESIA, the Spanish Agency for Artificial Intelligence Supervision, which will soon be installed in A Coruña, can rely".