EVANSTON, IL -- The Center for Advancing Safety of Machine Intelligence (CASMI) research hub, a partnership between UL Research Institutes and Northwestern University, has won a Chicago Innovation Award for its work to better incorporate safety into artificial intelligence.
Kristian Hammond, CASMI executive director and Northwestern’s Bill and Cathy Osborn professor of computer science, displays the research hub’s Chicago Innovation Award.
Courtesy of Chicago Innovation.

CASMI has collaborated with ULRI’s Digital Safety Research Institute (DSRI) since February 2022 to establish a wide-ranging research network focused on creating the knowledge to develop artificial intelligence (AI) systems for safe and equitable use. As part of its mission, CASMI funds selected research projects across about 10 universities that focus on key AI challenges.

For its achievements in AI safety, CASMI was among 22 organizations selected to receive a Chicago Innovation Award on Nov. 14. The award recognizes the most innovative products and services in the Chicago region each year.

“With AI becoming ever more ubiquitous, the need for an approach that incorporates both equity and safety into these technologies continues to grow,” said Christopher J. Cramer, Ph.D., ULRI’s interim president and chief research officer. “I’m delighted at this recognition of CASMI’s innovative work to build the foundation of AI best practices.”

CASMI was named a top 100 finalist in both 2022 and 2023, as well as this year. A panel of 12 judges selected the winning organizations based on whether they met the criteria of addressing an unmet need; creating new value; uniqueness; and demonstrating impact.