Abstract: How can we best harness modern AI capabilities to accelerate scientific discovery? Any change from the status quo can bring about both beneficial and adverse impacts, and we have seen many recent examples of new AI technologies causing societal harm as well as good. For this reason, responsible AI governance advocates for advance assessment of both potential risks and benefits that could stem from future adoption of AI technologies. Rather than react to such harms after they have already occurred, it is far better to anticipate, prevent, and mitigate such harms when possible. Moreover, we should convince ourselves that potential benefits outweigh potential risks before pursuing AI adoption. This parallels how institutional review boards (IRBs) similarly require proposed human subject research studies to both assess the level of risk posed and to justify potential benefits outweighing risks prior to study approval. My talk will briefly introduce foundations of responsible AI governance before reflecting on some of the potential benefits vs. risks posed by greater adoption of AI in scientific practice. The talk will further serve to help bridge ongoing work in UT Austin’s campus-wide responsible AI initiative, Good Systems, with that of the NSF-Simons AI Institute for Cosmic Origins, CosmicAI, led by UT Austin.

Bio: Matthew Lease is a Professor of Information at UT Austin, a Distinguished Member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), and a Senior Member of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI). He also serves as CosmicAI Co-Director and is a faculty founder and leader of Good Systems. Recent honors include the 2024 AAAI HCOMP Test of Time Award, the 2024 IEEE/ACM ASE Most Influential Paper Award, and a ACM CSCW 2024 Honorable Mention. Beyond scholarship, Lease has also informed responsible AI policy at state and national levels.