NIST Partners with NSF on New Institute for Trustworthy AI in Law & Society (TRAILS)

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced a new institute, led by the University of Maryland, which aims to transform the practice of AI from one driven primarily by technological innovation to one driven with attention to ethics, human rights, and support for communities whose voices have been marginalized into mainstream AI. Known as "TRAILS," this will be the first Institute of its kind to integrate participatory design, technology, and governance of AI systems and technologies and will focus on investigating what trust in AI looks like, whether current technical solutions for AI can be trusted, and which policy models can effectively sustain AI trustworthiness. TRAILS is funded by a partnership between NSF and NIST.

“Increasing AI system trustworthiness while reducing its risks will be key to unleashing AI’s potential benefits and ensuring our shared societal values,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Laurie E. Locascio. “Today, the ability to measure AI system trustworthiness and its impacts on individuals, communities and society is limited. TRAILS can help advance our understanding of the foundations of trustworthy AI, ethical and societal considerations of AI, and how to build systems that are trusted by the people who use and are affected by them.”