REU Site: Making Generative Artificial Intelligence Responsible

University Of North Texas, Denton TX

Investigators

Abstract

University of North Texas (UNT) will establish a three-year Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site focused on making Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) responsible. This initiative aims to address critical issues related to impartiality, ethics, privacy, and usability in Generative AI systems. Each summer, undergraduates will participate in a ten-week residential research program designed to ensure that advanced Generative AI technologies are developed and deployed responsibly. This REU site aligns with national priorities for ethical AI innovation and workforce development, preparing students to address real-world challenges such as model impartiality, data privacy, and social impact. UNT will leverage its resources, faculty expertise, and commitment to its mission to support this program. Recruitment efforts will focus on identifying and nurturing talent to build a skilled AI workforce that advances the nation’s technological progress and societal well-being. Over three years, the REU site will provide undergraduates with interdisciplinary research opportunities involving adversarial testing, prompt engineering, hardware-based privacy-preserving techniques, and error detection and mitigation in multimodal AI systems. Participants will be guided by seven faculty mentors and supported by graduate students, utilizing high-end Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) servers and resources at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) to conduct experiments and develop innovative solutions for responsible Generative AI. The program includes daily lessons, research activities, and professional workshops that expose students to cutting-edge methods for designing and evaluating responsible Generative AI models. By the conclusion of each ten-week session, participants will have produced publication-ready papers and presented their findings in poster sessions. Through a combination of specialized coursework, hands-on research, and mentorship, this REU site aims to train a new generation of AI researchers capable of addressing complex issues related to impartiality, ethics, privacy, and usability in Generative AI. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.