SUNY Chancellor Marvels at Sheer Speed of UB’s Empire AI-Supported Research

“Faster drugs,” Grant told King from across an Aug. 13 roundtable discussion at UB.

Grant, assistant professor in the Department of Structural Biology in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, recently received a $2.2 million National Institutes of Health grant to develop an AI model that can predict protein structures under specific conditions, which could help cut the usual 10-to-15-year drug development process in half. 

Crucially, the training time for Grant’s model has itself been drastically reduced — from two weeks to mere hours — thanks to the computing power of Empire AI, the $500 million New York State-based research consortium advancing artificial intelligence for the public good.

“There’s so much exciting work that’s happening through Empire AI and it’s happening quickly,” King said. 

Speed was the consistent theme of the roundtable, held at UB’s National AI Institute for Exceptional Education on the North Campus, as King and other invited officials repeatedly complimented the pace of Empire AI-supported research

Since launching last fall on UB’s Downtown Campus, Empire AI’s Alpha system has already supported more than 85 research projects with over 250 researchers statewide. The upcoming Beta system, recently supported by $40 million in funding from New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, will be an order of magnitude more powerful than Alpha. Combined, the two systems will be one of the most advanced academic computers in the world, providing Empire AI’s 10-member universities and research institutions with unprecedented computing power to tackle societal challenges.

“What does this mean for UB, New York State and SUNY? Our researchers will work at unprecedented speed on challenges such as next-generation cancer diagnostics, rapid drug discovery, personalized medicine, cutting-edge cybersecurity and education innovations,” said Venu Govindaraju, PhD, UB’s vice president for research and economic development and a member of the Empire AI Board of Directors.

Govindaraju added that progress continues on a planned permanent home for the Alpha and Beta systems on the North Campus — an energy-efficient supercomputing facility fueled by hydropower from Niagara Falls. 

Admiration for research speed also came from the elected officials at the roundtable, like Rep. Joe Morelle. 

“We’re used to technology moving at a fast pace — we’re not used to the incredible speed of the development of AI. This is literally moving lightning fast,” Morelle said. “As we continue to look at where we’re going to see leadership around the globe, Empire AI has a chance to be one of the truly world-class institutions.”

Other UB researchers who shared their Empire AI-supported projects included Rohini Srihari, PhD, professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. 

She is personalizing large language models by training them to learn the preferences and behaviors of their users. This could enhance augmentative and alternate communication devices used by people with ALS and other motor neuron diseases, allowing them to participate in engaging conversations and not be limited to the typical five or six words per minute of speech. It could also help address the shortage of mental health professionals in the U.S.

Addressing potential concerns, Srihari noted that many people are already using AI tools for their mental health despite those tools not being vetted for that use. “So we’re vetting them in an academic environment,” she said.

David Doermann, PhD, SUNY Empire Innovation Professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, shared his project on training large vision-language models in agriculture and climate. 

While models like ChatGPT can currently provide general knowledge on topics like weed control and diseased leaves, he said they can struggle to dig deeper into those topics.

“We have to be able to make these models specific and make them experts in particular areas,” Doermann said. “It’s not something that will come easily.”

The three faculty members are among more than 200 researchers at UB who are working at the cutting edge of AI technology to solve society’s greatest challenges. These efforts — some of which have been enhanced by Empire AI — include assisting children with speech and language challenges, enhancing medical imaging, detecting deepfakes with accuracy and helping first responders during natural disasters.

Several graduate and undergraduate students also had the opportunity to present their AI research to King.

Other developments discussed included the SUNY AI for the Public Good Fellows program. Eligible SUNY faculty, instructional designers and librarians who serve as fellows will support the implementation of AI literacy into SUNY’s General Education Framework. Up to 10 fellows will be selected for the upcoming academic year. 

UB’s first-of-their-kind “AI + X” degrees were also touched upon. These seven new majors combining AI with traditional academic disciplines, including geography and communication, were recently approved by the New York State Education Department. 

The degrees are supported by the $5 million in state funding awarded for UB’s new Department of AI and Society, which is jointly based in the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. 

“I want to point out that these are the first seven, not the last seven,” said engineering dean Kemper E. Lewis, PhD, MBA, “So we are developing new degrees again to stay on the leading edge of education.”