{"690026":{"#nid":"690026","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Student Group Puts AI Safety at the Forefront of Research","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs artificial intelligence (AI) permeates everything we do \u2014 from internet searches to writing \u2014 questions and concerns about its safe use have emerged. How do large language models actually work? Is AI decision\u2011making aligned with human values? What if AI is misused for warfare? How should society govern AI?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe questions surrounding AI may be an unprecedented new challenge, but at Georgia Tech, students are already trying to answer them.\u0026nbsp;The\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.aisi.dev\/\u0022\u003EAI Safety Initiative\u003C\/a\u003E (AISI) is a student group aiming to steer AI research and policy for society\u2019s benefit.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAI introduces new kinds of challenges into our legal and societal frameworks,\u201d\u0026nbsp;said\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rociopv.com\/\u0022\u003ERocio Perales Valdes\u003C\/a\u003E, AISI co-director and second-year computer science student. \u201cIts capabilities emerge fast and on a jagged, hard-to-predict edge, which leaves AI governance like chasing a moving target. The work ahead is building the governance and technical tools we need to evaluate these systems, set direction, and enforce them without hindering innovation.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAISI focuses on developing and deploying AI responsibly, rather than avoiding it. The group offers guest talks from AI researchers, fellowships that immerse students in the latest safety research through reading and discussion groups, and independent projects that contribute directly to the field. Past projects from AISI include\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.aisi.dev\/news#h.6zvwl6gsx9i0\u0022\u003Edemonstrating large language model security risks on Capitol Hill\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.aisi.dev\/news#h.6zvwl6gsx9i0\u0022\u003Eresponding\u003C\/a\u003E to U.S. Federal Requests for Information, and\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.aisi.dev\/news#h.gbkp1ju1c5v3\u0022\u003Erunning a war game\u003C\/a\u003E for GTRI faculty. Part lab and part learning community, AISI prepares students to become the next generation of AI safety researchers and practitioners. They have placed alumni at leading organizations such as Anthropic, RAND, Model Evaluations and Threat Research, the UK AI Security Institute, and the Horizon Institute for Public Service.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAI safety is an urgent problem because there is a rapidly growing gap between what AI systems can do and what we understand about them; yet mitigating AI risks is systematically neglected by current market incentives,\u201d said Yixiong Hao, third\u2011year computer science student and co\u2011director of AISI. \u201cI think the set of things I can do to directly move the needle is quite limited in the next three to five years, and that\u2019s why I run this group. I have higher leverage in convincing smart people to work on neglected problems in AI safety.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFounded in 2022 by\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gauravsett.com\/\u0022\u003EGaurav Sett\u003C\/a\u003E, who is now a Ph.D. student at the RAND School of Public Policy and a fellow at the Institute for Progress, AISI has grown quickly. Its 10\u2011member executive board supports a broad base of student involvement, with more than 70 students participating in the fellowship program each semester. Over the past two years, members have also published 13 papers at top conferences such as the International Conference on Learning Representations, with projects spanning AI security and algorithmic transparency.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFrom Discussion to Discovery\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs a first\u2011year computer science student, Ishan Khire joined AISI looking for a deeper way to engage with AI safety and quickly found a pathway into research. After attending one general meeting, Khire enrolled in the group\u2019s six\u2011week fellowship program, where students meet weekly to discuss current technical and policy challenges shaping the field.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFinding a community that cares about AI safety was a big part of joining the fellowship,\u201d Khire said. \u201cBecause AI safety is a broad subject, it was helpful to have an accountability group to discuss current issues.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThanks to the connections he made at AISI, Khire began conducting AI research with computing faculty member\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/people\/giri-krishnan\u0022\u003EGiri Krishnan\u003C\/a\u003E to predict the 3D structure of proteins.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAI is going to be really transformative in the next five to 10 years, and we want to make that transformation go well,\u201d Khire said. \u201cAISI tries to upskill people and connect them to technical and policy research that helps them find impactful work.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EStudent Advantage\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAISI is entirely student\u2011run, with a small group of faculty advisors. That structure lends itself to uncertain research that can be difficult to fund through traditional academic labs, and faculty support has followed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAny cursory look at the news today will show there is significant angst about AI and whether it is being developed responsibly and with sufficient guardrails in place,\u201d said\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/people\/thomas-conte\u0022\u003ETom Conte\u003C\/a\u003E, the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECollege of Computing\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;associate dean for Research. \u201cAISI has Georgia Tech at the forefront of that conversation.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAISI member and computer science Ph.D.\u0026nbsp;student \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/glennmatlin.doctor\/\u0022\u003EGlenn Matlin\u003C\/a\u003E has recruited many undergraduate researchers from the group for his own projects.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI consider AISI like a third lab,\u201d he said. \u201cI use it as a great place for recruiting students. I\u2019m constantly sharing my own research, and it helps me stay up to date with what other researchers are talking about.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMatlin also credits AISI with advancing his own work in AI safety. Through the fellowship, he synthesized research that helped him apply for opportunities such as the prestigious AI safety mentorship at the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.matsprogram.org\/\u0022\u003EMATS Program,\u003C\/a\u003E which has connected him to additional research funding.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a future increasingly shaped by algorithms, AISI\u2019s students are betting that the most important safeguards won\u2019t come from code alone, but from the people guiding how that code is built, deployed, and governed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAI safety matters to everyone,\u201d Matlin said. \u201cAI is going to disrupt not just technology, but also politics and business \u2014 and its risks are creating urgent opportunities to make it safer.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe AI Safety Initiative at Georgia Tech provides educational and research opportunities to ensure that artificial intelligence is developed for the benefit of humanity.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The AI Safety Initiative at Georgia Tech provides educational and research opportunities to ensure that artificial intelligence is developed for the benefit of humanity."}],"uid":"34541","created_gmt":"2026-04-27 19:34:55","changed_gmt":"2026-04-27 19:36:31","author":"Tess Malone","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-04-27T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-04-27T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680077":{"id":"680077","type":"image","title":"aisicontrolconf.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EThe AISI team at ControlConf in April 2026.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1777318536","gmt_created":"2026-04-27 19:35:36","changed":"1777318536","gmt_changed":"2026-04-27 19:35:36","alt":"Students at a conference","file":{"fid":"264316","name":"aisicontrolconf.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/04\/27\/aisicontrolconf.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/04\/27\/aisicontrolconf.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":630129,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/04\/27\/aisicontrolconf.jpg?itok=p2f-SA3i"}}},"media_ids":["680077"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETess Malone, Senior Research Writer\/Editor\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003Etess.malone@gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["tess.malone@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}