National Science Foundation (NSF) Funded AI Ethics Collaborative Research Project

Press release

FAIRFIELD — Fairfield University has been awarded a three-year grant by the National Science Foundation as the lead institution on a collaborative project focused on advancing artificial intelligence (AI) ethics education. While Fairfield is leading the initiative, additional funding has been provided to partnering institutions, bringing the total support to the AI ethics work to nearly $400,000.

Sidike Paheding, PhD, chair and associate professor of Computer Science at Fairfield University’s School of Engineering and Computing, is the principal investigator of the project. Dr. Paheding is leading these efforts in collaboration with principal investigators from Indiana Tech and Prairie View A&M, and with Charles F. Dolan School of Business Associate Professor of Management David Schmidt, PhD, who will act as senior personnel on this AI research project.

"Throughout this project, we aim to advance AI education and promote responsible AI development and use. By enhancing AI education, we seek to foster safer, more secure, and trustworthy AI technologies,” Dr. Paheding said.

Dr. Schmidt emphasized the significance of integrating ethical discourse into technical education: "Among its many challenges, AI poses significant ethical issues that need to be addressed in computer science courses. This project will give faculty practical, hands-on teaching tools to explore these issues with their students.”

Rooted in Fairfield University’s Jesuit Catholic mission of forming men and women for others, the AI research project “aims to serve the national interest by enhancing artificial intelligence (AI) education through the integration of ethical considerations in AI curricula, fostering design and development of responsible and secure AI systems,” according to the project summary approved by the National Science Foundation.

With an end-goal to improve the effectiveness of AI ethics education for computer science students, the team will develop an “innovative pedagogical strategy” over the course of the project. According to the project summary, this includes classroom discussions on AI ethics case studies, and an open-access repository of case studies to equip students with practical tools for ethical decision-making.

Dr. Paheding will guide the project’s development and implementation through gamified learning modules for AI courses, mentoring graduate students, managing budgets, and serving as the main point of contact for our project evaluator and external advisory board.
Learn more about the NSF Awards below:

• $231,958 – NSF Award #2518485 in collaboration with Prairie View A&M (NSF Award #2518486) and Indiana Tech (NSF Award #2518487). To learn more about Fairfield University’s work in the field of AI, visit Fairfield.edu/ai.