20206702132855↗

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) HAS THE POTENTIAL TO TRANSFORM US FOOD SYSTEMS BY TARGETING ITS BIGGEST CHALLENGES: IMPROVING FOOD YIELD QUALITY AND NUTRITION DECREASING RESOURCE CONSUMPTION INCREASING SAFETY AND TRACEABILITY AND ELIMINATING FOOD WASTE. IN THE LAST DECADE SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS HAVE MADE SIGNIFICANT HEADWAY IN DEVELOPING AND DEPLOYING TOOLS AND DEVICES THAT DELIVER A MASSIVE YET TOO OFTEN RAW DATA STREAM TO FOOD SYSTEM STAKEHOLDERS AT UNPRECEDENTED SPATIOTEMPORAL RESOLUTION. AT THE SAME TIME AI ALGORITHMS REPEATEDLY BREAK BENCHMARKS IN COMPUTER VISION NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING AND AUTOMATION WHILE AI-OPTIMIZED HARDWARE IS ENABLING MAJOR ADVANCES FROM ROBOTICS TO CONSUMER ELECTRONICS. DESPITE BIG LEAPS IN AI CAPACITY FOOD SYSTEMS LIKE OTHER COMPLEX DOMAIN AREAS PRESENT SEVERAL CHALLENGES IN THE APPLICATION AND ADOPTION OF AI: (1) FOOD SYSTEMS ARE HIGHLY DIVERSE AND BIOLOGICALLY COMPLEX (2) GROUND TRUTH DATA IS SPARSE COSTLY AND PRIVATELY HELD AND (3) HUMAN DECISIONS AND PREFERENCES ARE INTRICATELY LINKED TO EVERY STAGE OF FOOD SYSTEM SUPPLY CHAINS.THE MISSION OF THE AI INSTITUTE FOR NEXT GENERATION FOOD SYSTEMS (AIFS) IS TO DEVELOP AI TECHNOLOGIES FOR A SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEM AND TO NURTURE NEXT GENERATION TALENT TO PRODUCE AND DISTRIBUTE NUTRITIOUS FOOD WITH FEWER RESOURCES. IN THE COMING DECADES AIFS AIMS TO TRANSFORM US FOOD SYSTEMS BY INNOVATING AI TECHNOLOGY THAT WILL GENERATE ACTIONABLE INFORMATION FOR DIVERSE STAKEHOLDERS IN FOOD SYSTEM SUPPLY CHAINS GROUNDED IN A ROBUST ETHICAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC FRAMEWORK. TOWARD THIS GOAL AND ADDRESSING THE ABOVE CHALLENGES AIFS WILL DEVELOP GENERALIZABLE DATA-EFFICIENT AND TRUSTWORTHY AI SOLUTIONS TO ENABLE (1) MOLECULAR BREEDERS TO DISCOVER AND/OR DESIGN THE NEXT GENERATION OF HIGH YIELDING HIGH-QUALITY CONSUMER-FOCUSED FOODS (2) AGRICULTURAL PRODUCERS TO MAXIMIZE FOOD QUANTITY AND QUALITY WHILE MINIMIZING RESOURCE CONSUMPTION AND WASTE (3) FOOD PROCESSORS AND DISTRIBUTORS TO DELIVER HIGHLY TRACEABLE AND SAFE FOOD WHILE MINIMIZING RESOURCE CONSUMPTION AND WASTE AND (4) CONSUMERS TO RAPIDLY AND PRECISELY ASSESS THE NUTRITION OF A MEAL QUANTIFY THE FOOD'S MOLECULAR COMPOSITION AND PREDICT THE IMPACT ON THEIR HEALTH. AIFS WILL BUILD THESE SOLUTIONS USING A KNOWLEDGE-DRIVEN AND HUMAN-IN-THE-LOOP LEARNING PARADIGM DESIGNED TO HANDLE FOOD SYSTEM DIVERSITY AND BIOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY EFFICIENTLY CAPTURE AND UTILIZE FOOD SYSTEM DATA AND GARNER USER TRUST VIA EXPLAINABILITY SAFETY PRIVACY AND FAIRNESS. TODAY WHEN AI IS EMPLOYED BY FOOD SYSTEM RESEARCHERS ENGINEERS AND INDUSTRY LEADERS IT IS ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY AS A TECHNOLOGICAL BYPRODUCT OF OTHER INDUSTRIES. BY CREATING FOOD SYSTEM-SPECIFIC AI SOLUTIONS AIFS WILL ACCELERATE AI'S CAPACITY TO POSITIVELY TRANSFORM US FOOD SYSTEMS AND IMPACT STAKEHOLDERS ACROSS THE SUPPLY CHAIN.GIVEN FOOD'S FUNDAMENTAL ROLE IN HUMAN HEALTH AND WELL-BEING ALONG WITH ITS FAR-REACHING IMPACTS ON THE NATIONAL ECONOMY AND ENVIRONMENT CREATING A MULTIDISCIPLINARY INSTITUTE FOCUSED ON AI INNOVATION IN AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SYSTEMS IS CRITICAL. AIFS WILL BRING TOGETHER RESEARCHERS FROM SIX INSTITUTIONS (I.E. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA DAVIS [UCD]; UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY [UCB]; CORNELL; AND UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA-CHAMPAIGN [UIUC] USDA-ARS UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES [UC ANR]) WITH A PROVEN RECORD OF EXCELLENCE IN AI AND FOOD SYSTEM SCIENCE ENGINEERING OUTREACH AND EDUCATION. AIFS WILL SERVE AS A NATIONAL NEXUS POINT FOR COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS SPANNING HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS FEDERAL AGENCIES INDUSTRY AND NONPROFITS/FOUNDATIONS. IN THIS BROKERAGE CAPACITY AIFS WILL ACCELERATE THE TRANSLATION OF AI INNOVATIONS INTO THE FOOD SYSTEM AND NURTURE THE NEXT GENERATION OF TALENT TO ENABLE A MORE RESILIENT AND PRODUCTIVE SOCIETY.AIFS WILL HAVE SIX RESEARCH CLUSTERS WITH TWO FOUNDATIONAL RESEARCH AREAS (USE-INSPIRED AND FOUNDATIONAL AI AND SOCIOECONOMICS AND ETHICS) AND FOUR APPLICATION RESEARCH AREAS (ARA) (MOLECULAR BREEDING AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION FOOD PROCESSING AND DISTRIBUTION AND NUTRITION) IN ADDITION TO PROGRAMS IN EDUCATION OUTREACH AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT (EOWD) BROADENING PARTICIPATION AND COLLABORATIONS AND KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER. APPLICATION RESEARCH AREAS WILL SPAN THE ENTIRE FOOD SYSTEM. THE USE-INSPIRED AND FOUNDATIONAL AI CLUSTER WILL CONNECT THE SIX RESEARCH CLUSTERS AND DEVELOP AI TOOLS THROUGH CLOSE COMMUNICATION AND FEEDBACK CYCLES. SOCIAL ECONOMIC AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS WILL BE INTEGRATED INTO THE APPLICATION OF AI IN ALL FOUR APPLIED RESEARCH AREAS. AIFS WILL ACTIVELY ENGAGE ACADEMIC STAKEHOLDER AND PUBLIC AUDIENCES THROUGH EDUCATION OUTREACH AND BROADENING PARTICIPATION ACTIVITIES (E.G. ROUNDTABLES EXHIBITS PANEL DISCUSSIONS ETC.) LED BY GRADUATE STUDENTS AND POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS SUPPORTED BY THIS PROJECT AS PART OF THE UCD INSTITUTE FOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL LITERACY (IFAL). IFAL AND AIFS WILL COLLABORATE WITH COMMUNITY COLLEGES IN BOTH THE RESEARCH AND APPLICATION OF TECHNOLOGIES IN INDUSTRY THROUGH INTERNSHIPS FELLOWSHIPS COMPETITIONS AND CONFERENCES. AIFS WORKSHOPS LED BY UC ANR A STATEWIDE UC NETWORK OF OVER 1500 ACADEMICS AND STAFF WITH THE MISSION TO TRANSFER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY TO THE PEOPLE OF CALIFORNIA WILL SERVE TO INFORM AND TRAIN INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS ON THE APPLICATION OF AI TECHNOLOGIES. FINALLY AIFS WILL LEVERAGE UC ANR'S GLOBAL INNOVATION FOOD AND AGRICULTURE INNOVATION NETWORK THE VERDE INNOVATION NETWORK FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP (THE VINE) TO ACCELERATE COMMERCIALIZATION USING AN ENVIRONMENTALLY SAFE AND ETHICALLY SOUND APPROACH THROUGH PARTNERSHIP WITH EXISTING COMPANIES AND PROMOTING ENTREPRENEURSHIP.AIFS AIMS TO DEVELOP FOOD SYSTEM-CENTRIC AI SOLUTIONS FOR TRANSFORMING PRODUCTIVITY SUSTAINABILITY AND SAFETY OF FOOD SYSTEMS AS WELL AS ENHANCING CONSUMER HEALTH AND WELLNESS. THESE AI SOLUTIONS WILL INNOVATE ALGORITHMS AND COMPUTATIONAL RESOURCES TO MODEL BOTH DIVERSITY AND BIOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY OF FOOD SYSTEMS ADDRESS KEY KNOWLEDGE GAPS IN GROUND TRUTH DATA AND CREATE EXPLAINABLE AND TRUSTWORTHY PREDICTIONS TO ENGAGE HUMANS IN-THE-LOOP. THESE INNOVATIONS ARE SIGNIFICANTLY AND INTELLECTUALLY DISTINCT FROM THE CURRENT SCENARIO WHERE AI APPROACHES IN FOOD SYSTEMS ARE EXCLUSIVELY TECHNOLOGICAL BY-PRODUCTS OF OTHER INDUSTRIES. BY INVESTIGATING AND CREATING FOOD SYSTEM-SPECIFIC AI TECHNOLOGIES AIFS WILL ACCELERATE AI'S CAPACITY TO POSITIVELY TRANSFORM US FOOD SYSTEMS AND IMPACT STAKEHOLDERS ACROSS THE SUPPLY CHAIN. AIFS WILL BRING TOGETHER RESEARCHERS FROM SIX INSTITUTIONS WITH A PROVEN RECORD OF EXCELLENCE IN AI FOOD SYSTEM SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH PLAN WILL INVESTIGATE ORIGINAL AND TRANSFORMATIVE CONCEPTS AT THE INTERSECTION OF FOUNDATIONAL AND APPLICATION RESEARCH AREAS THAT SPAN THE ENTIRE FOOD SYSTEM. WITHIN EACH APPLICATION RESEARCH AREA AIFS ADDRESSES THREE CRITICAL CHALLENGES A SPECIFIC SET OF FOOD SYSTEM STAKEHOLDERS CONFRONTING THESE CHALLENGES FOUNDATIONAL AI RESEARCH SOLUTIONS AND A CORRESPONDING SOCIOECONOMIC AND ETHICAL FRAMEWORK. CRITICALLY AIFS INSTITUTIONS REPRESENT LEADERS IN AI INNOVATION AND AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SYSTEMS RESEARCH WITH SIGNIFICANT RESOURCES INCLUDING STATE-OF-THE-ART COMPUTE MOLECULAR SEQUENCING ANALYTICAL GREENHOUSE CROP PRODUCTION AND ENGINEERING FACILITIES AS WELL AS STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT TO ENABLE SUCCESS AND TRANSFORMATIVE IMPACT ON SOCIETY.

Project Grant (B) · National Institute of Food and Agriculture · to University of California, Davis (UEI TX2DAGQPENZ5) · data as of 2026-09-30

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