John Licato: Tampa Bay and the future of ‘safe AI’

As terms like “AI” and “LLMs” become thoroughly entrenched in the public consciousness, organizations shift their focus to practical applications. In the Tampa Bay area, not only is there a need for safe and trustworthy AI, especially strong AI, but unique solutions are also emerging.

The initial excitement surrounding generative AI is being replaced with an increasing realization that even top-performing systems are still subject to hallucinations or AI-generated content that is false or misleading but presented as factual. Mitigating these hallucinations is crucial, especially in the domains of interest to national security and defense.

Tampa Bay is home to important defense organizations, such as the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) and U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), both of which are based at MacDill Air Force Base.

In a conversation between myself, Dr. Craig Martell, who served as the inaugural Chief Digital Artificial Intelligence Officer at the Department of Defense, and Jim Cardoso, Senior Director of the Global and National Security Institute (GNSI), we found that one of the biggest challenges as it relates to AI in the defense space is differentiating where the science currently is versus the hype.

GNSI, based here at USF, has been crucial in exploring the dynamic boundary between technology and policy. As AI moves beyond hype to become a critical enabler for national security, policy needs to keep pace in both its management and employment.

GNSI will continue to conduct in-depth research and impactful forums to keep policymakers informed.

Characterizing the hype-science gap requires addressing problems of safety and trustworthiness in AI solutions by the private sector as well as academia. Many Tampa-based companies are emerging to fill that role.

Actualization.AI, a new startup founded by USF AI researchers (full disclosure: I am one of them), was recently awarded a Bull Ring Accelerator Grant to develop a tool for finding vulnerabilities in AI systems. They join a rapidly growing community of local AI experts innovating at the field’s cutting edge, including SourceToad, Ampersand, ConnectWise, Nape, Accenture, and many others.

All of these companies are either based in or have a significant presence in the Tampa Bay area. They will, therefore, need a highly trained workforce, which our region is poised to deliver.

To meet this need, the University of South Florida will be one of the first universities in the nation to launch a new College of AI, Cybersecurity and Computing, adding to its already successful AI certificate program and initiatives such as the Institute for AI+X, which is hosting its annual symposium in October 2024.

Put together, Tampa Bay is taking shape as a leader in AI research, adoption, and education, not only for business but to protect our nation from its adversaries.

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John Licato, Ph.D., is an associate professor at the University of South Florida Department of Computer Science and Engineering, director of the Advancing Machine and Human Reasoning Lab and owner of Actualization.AI.