One-U RAI Announces Inaugural Awardees

In its first push to attract and retain top talent in translational AI, the University of Utah One-U Responsible Artificial Intelligence Initiative (RAI) has named seven faculty fellows and one distinguished visitor.

The faculty fellows span six colleges across the U and their work is expected to drive progress in one or more of the initiative’s thematic areas: environment, healthcare and wellness, and teaching and learning. One-U RAI will typically award three to five fellows each year, but increased that number for 2025 due to a strong applicant pool and excitement from U leadership. "Our inaugural cohort of faculty fellows represents a wonderful cross-section of U faculty,” said Manish Parashar, director of the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute, which houses One-U RAI. “We look forward to integrating their expertise into One-U RAI and working toward shared goals, from recommending guardrails that protect individuals to applying AI to solve complex societal challenges."

Our very own Assistant Professor Isabelle Freiling was named one of these awardees, focusing on the environment, healthcare, and wellness. Dr. Freiling’s publications identify the challenges that algorithms pose in understanding online information environments, such as social media, where researchers don’t know who sees what. “For example, if we do not know who saw a message about climate change, we cannot measure its effect on people’s perceptions of climate change,” she said. She is advancing understanding of how this lack of access to data hinders theory building. Science communication is critical to advancing AI responsibly, she said, because it helps to reach diverse audiences affected by AI and identify ethical issues. Congratulations Dr. Freiling for this amazing accomplishment!