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Stony Brook University Launches New Institute for Artificial Intelligence Discovery

  • 05/10/19

STONY BROOK, NY – Stony Brook University has officially launched the new Institute for AI-Driven Discovery and Innovation to advance AI research and apply the transformative power of innovation driven by AI across disciplines. The AI Institute will focus on four grand challenges: health care; infrastructure; education; and finance. It will also focus on five foundational research areas: automated and scalable knowledge acquisition; predictive intelligence; explainable AI; trustworthy AI; and ethical AI.

The AI Institute for AI-Driven Discovery and Innovation will support efforts centered on the overarching vision of Human-Machine Symbiosis, based on the idea that AI technology should amplify human intelligence, instead of replacing it. In this way, it will serve as an intellectual hub to coordinate and encourage faculty AI research and educational initiatives across the University and beyond.

Already, researchers and faculty at Stony Brook are implementing projects across numerous departments, including cutting edge work that is:

  • Improving the accuracy of cancer diagnosis and developing personalized therapies
  • Using social media postings to diagnose depression
  • Understanding how to treat mental illness and degenerative diseases of the brain
  • Developing strategies to protect endangered penguin populations in Antarctica

“The goal of this initiative is to foster innovative collaboration across departments and verticals to bring together teams of students who are early in their educational journey—from engineering, humanities and a slew of other disciplines—to tackle important and challenging projects that will have real societal impact through technology and entrepreneurship,” says Samuel L. Stanley Jr., president of Stony Brook University at the official launch event held at Bloomberg’s headquarters in Manhattan yesterday evening.

The Institute was established with two grants totaling $4.5 million from SUNY’s Empire Innovation Program as well as funding from the State of New York and private donations. These funds will be used to recruit world-class faculty researchers in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity to drive the aforementioned vision of Human-Machine Symbiosis. The AI Institute will serve as a hub for the AI research effort at Stony Brook University and will fuel the workforce for the AI-driven economy of the future through programs ranging from core tech to science communication, technology policy, and entrepreneurship programs.

About Stony Brook University
Stony Brook University, widely regarded as a SUNY flagship, is going beyond the expectations of what today’s public universities can accomplish. Since its founding in 1957, this young university has grown to become one of only four University Center campuses in the State University of New York (SUNY) system with more than 26,000 students, more than 2,700 faculty members and 18 NCAA Division I athletic programs. Our faculty have earned numerous prestigious awards, including the Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Indianapolis Prize for animal conservation, Abel Prize and the inaugural Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics. The university offers students an elite education with an outstanding return on investment: U.S.News & World Report ranks Stony Brook among the top 40 public universities in the nation. Its membership in the Association of American Universities (AAU) places Stony Brook among the top 62 research institutions in North America. As part of the management team of Brookhaven National Laboratory, the University joins a prestigious group of universities that have a role in running federal R&D labs. Stony Brook University fuels Long island’s economic growth. Its impact on the Long island economy amounts to $7.38 billion in increased output. Our state, country, and world demand ambitious ideas, imaginative solutions, and exceptional leadership to forge a better future for all. The students, alumni, researchers, and faculty of Stony Brook University are prepared to meet this challenge.

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