Artificial intelligence: the Raise Centre is launched at UniBg

The University of Bergamo is strengthening its commitment to Artificial Intelligence with the establishment of the RAISE Centre – Research Centre for Responsible Artificial Intelligence, Society and Ethics, a new research and ‘Third Mission’ centre dedicated to studying the social, organisational, educational and democratic transformations brought about by AI, and to promoting responsible models for the development, adoption and governance of the technology.

The new Centre forms part of a programme launched by the University in recent years on the subject of Artificial Intelligence, characterised by a strong interdisciplinary focus and collaboration between the University’s eight departments. Key initiatives include the Interdepartmental Working Group on Artificial Intelligence, the White Paper ‘Artificial Intelligence: A Research Agenda”, the interdepartmental PhD programme “Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Futures” and numerous innovative research projects supported through the Seedcorn Grant scheme.

In this context, the University of Bergamo was among the first Italian universities to adopt Guidelines for the ethical and informed use of Artificial Intelligence, aimed at lecturers, students, technical and administrative staff, and library staff, confirming the University’s commitment to the responsible dissemination of emerging technologies.

“With the RAISE Centre, the University of Bergamo is taking a further step along the path it has been following in recent years to foster interdisciplinary reflection on Artificial Intelligence and strengthen its contribution to understanding the transformations brought about by new technologies,” emphasises the Vice-Chancellor, Sergio Cavalieri. “The Centre represents both the culmination and, at the same time, a new starting point for a process that has involved the entire academic community, from the establishment of the Interdepartmental Working Group on AI to the definition of a shared research agenda, right through to the launch of the PhD programme ‘Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Futures’. Its establishment consolidates the University’s role as a centre for knowledge production, dialogue with the local community, and support for businesses, public administrations, schools and citizens in addressing the challenges posed by Artificial Intelligence in an informed manner,”

“Our areas of research – participatory design of AI systems, AI ethics and governance, and human-machine communication – reflect the complexity of a transformation that cannot be understood through a single disciplinary perspective,” explains Maria Francesca Murru, director of the RAISE Centre. “The Centre was established to bring together diverse areas of expertise and promote a social-centred approach, attentive to the organisational, institutional, cultural and social dimensions of technological innovation. At a time when the pace of technological development risks outstripping our capacity for understanding and critical reflection, the university’s role is to help develop tools for analysis, knowledge and guidance that foster the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence and its adoption for the benefit of communities and the local area.”