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Building an AI-ready RSE Workforce

Ying Zhang1

Matthew A. Gitzendanner1, Dan S. Maxwell1, Justin W. Richardson1, Kaleb E. Smith2, Eric A. Stubbs1, Brian J. Stucky1, Jingchao Zhang2, Erik Deumens1

1: University of Florida 2: NVIDIA

November 15, 2021

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Introduction

AI has become ubiquitous in everyday life

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Image sources: https://unsplash.com/photos/XVhgrKy8C4g, https://unsplash.com/photos/ZWW2SDPaC54

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AI Impact on Research

  • AI methods are adopted in research in many research disciplines
    • Drug discoveries, precision medicine
    • Quantum Chemistry
    • Communication, journalism, linguistics
    • Engineering
    • Others ….

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Image sources: https://unsplash.com/photos/eT8YmUWJjQ0, https://unsplash.com/photos/2fyeLhUeYpg

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AI Impact on Research Software Development

  • Software 2.0 – Dr. Andrej Karpathy
    • Paradigm shift

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    • Learning by example
    • Using the training data as the guide
    • Find the solution through optimization.

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Dr. Andrej Karpathy: https://karpathy.medium.com/software-2-0-a64152b37c35

Human-engineered

source code

Data focused model-based optimization

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AI Impact on Research Software Development - Continue

  • AI/ML methods incorporated into software development cycles

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AIDA: https://www.aidatech.io

Project planning

Software design

And development

Testing & integration

Data driven analysis in requirements, cost estimation

AI Design Assistant (AIDA)

Agile environment

Regression testing, updates, and deployment

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Empowering RSEs with AI Skills

  • Data Science
    • Data collection, curation, analysis
    • Data security, privacy, ethics, compliances
  • Machine Learning (ML) & Deep Learning (DL)
    • Model architecture, learning
    • Model validation, deployment
    • Model management & reproducibility

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AI Initiative at UF

  • University of Florida – AI University
    • April 29, 2020 – UF’s AI initiative
    • July 21, 2020 – UF and NVIDIA announce partnership
      • NVAITC at UF, first in US
    • Jan 2021 – HiPerGator AI, NVIDIA DGX A100 SuperPOD
    • 100 AI faculty hire
    • Catalyst and Seed funding for AI research
    • AI across the curriculum

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AI Education

  • AI Curriculum
    • Spans the full breadth of UF
    • UF-wide certificate in AI
      • Fundamentals of AI
      • Ethics, data and technology
      • Application of AI in disciplines
  • AI Training
    • Programming
    • AI workflows
    • Fundamentals of AI
    • Research data management

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AI Education - Continue

  • 15 Newly Approved Undergraduate Courses

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AI @ UF Research Computing

  • UF Research Computing
  • AI Support Team
  • AI Training- partnership between UF and NVIDIA
    • Diverse topics and levels
    • Practicum AI for beginners
    • NVIDIA DLI workshops for mid-advanced levels
    • Birds-of-a-Feather sessions
      • Domain specific
      • Open discussion

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UF Research Computing AI Support Team�

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11/10/21

Ying Zhang, yingz@ufl.edu

Dimitri Bourilkov, dimi@ufl.edu

Matthew A. Gitzendanner, magitz@ufl.edu

Dan S. Maxwell, danielmaxwell@ufl.edu

Justin W. Richardson, jstrds@ufl.edu

Eric A. Stubbs, ericeric@ufl.edu

Kaleb E. Smith, kasmith@nvidia.com

Jingchao Zhang, jingchaoz@nvidia.com

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Thank You !