Utah's Responsible AI Community Consortium
AI’s impact is vast, shaping choices, communities, and futures. In this rapidly evolving AI landscape, no single institution can independently address the complex ethical, technical, and societal challenges of responsible AI. Ensuring equity, safety, and public trust requires a collective approach that spans policy, research, infrastructure, workforce development, and community engagement. By bringing together Utah’s diverse ecosystem of academic, industry, government, and civil society leaders, we can promote innovation while supporting inclusive growth, AI literacy, and proactive responses to workforce, public safety, privacy, and security concerns.
The Responsible AI Community Consortium (RAI-CC) unites academia, government, industry, and civil society to promote the responsible development and use of AI for societal benefit. Central to this mission is the cultivation of leaders who promote responsible AI practices, foster collaboration across sectors, and enhance awareness and understanding of AI’s societal impact. Through its members and Special Interest Groups, the Consortium addresses public concerns regarding disruption, safety, and ethics while catalyzing innovation and enabling inclusive participation in an AI-shaped future from K-12 to higher education and the broader community.
The RAI-CC envisions a collaborative framework in which academia, government, industry, and communities co-create AI systems that are robust, effective, ethical, inclusive, and transparent. By aligning policy, infrastructure, best practices, education, and civil society participation, we aim to mitigate disruption, strengthen trust and security, develop an AI-fluent workforce, and ensure AI technologies serve the public good, both locally in Utah and globally.
In 2025, the consortium responded to a federal request for information on an AI action plan. Read more.
Get engaged
The consortium typically meets virtually on the fourth Friday of the month—visit the events page for meeting details. Fill out our interest form and attend a discussion!
Community Consortium News
Click the thumbnail to view a PDF of the AI Leadership Blueprint. The Workforce Development &...
View Portrait of an Educator PDF Utah’s Responsible AI Community Consortium is pleased to share its Portrait of an AI-Ready...
February 26, 2026 On Friday, February 6, as part of Utah Tech Week, about 50 people gathered...
February 2, 2026 Read a KSL story featuring Manish Parashar, director of the One-U Responsible AI Initiative, and Kevin...
View the Portrait PDF Utah’s Responsible AI Community Consortium is pleased to share its Portrait of an AI-Ready Company, a...
Penny Atkins serves as the director of research and science for the University of Utah Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute,...
Robin Huling and Kevin Williams co-lead the Utah Responsible AI Community Consortium Workforce Development and Education Special Interest Group, which...
Principles
In addition to core principles of responsible AI as defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, including Validity and Reliability, Safety, Security and Resiliency, Accountability and Transparency, Explainability and Interpretability, Privacy, and Fairness with Mitigation of Harmful Bias, the RAI-CC aspires to the following principles:
- Responsible Innovation: Balance the pursuit of AI innovation with necessary oversight, regulatory frameworks, and protective measures to ensure responsible advancement and implementation.
- Democratization: Enable open and equitable access to AI technology and resources, and reducing the digital divide.
- Knowledge Sharing: Promote education and awareness about AI technologies and their use, including potential benefits and risks, and encourage the sharing of models and data to empower ethical development and interactions with AI.
- Openness: Contribute to clear and open communication about AI's capabilities and limitations, along with transparency and openness of models and data, and ensure that risk and negative impacts are acknowledged and minimized.
- Collaboration and Engagement: Facilitate a collaborative environment where all voices are heard and can meaningfully contribute, including students, researchers, policymakers, industry partners, and the broader community, to guide AI development and use.
- Continuous Learning and Improvement: Facilitate discussion on new research, user feedback, and evolving ethical standards and regulations to enable continuous improvement.
- Societal Relevance: Encourage the design and deployment of AI systems that help address societal needs reliably and solve real-world problems relevant to our region and beyond.
Pillars
The foundation of the RAI-CC is built upon four pillars: Research and Innovation, Education and Workforce Development, Policy and Governance, and Community Engagement. Each pillar represents a foundational focus of the RAI-CC.
Goals and Activities
Enable Responsible Research and Innovation with AI
- Goal: Facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration, projects, and publications to foster a holistic approach to responsible AI.
- Example Activities:
- Develop recommendations, risk management strategies, best practices, and other resources to support the responsible advancement of AI, from models and tools to new applications and approaches.
- Develop a framework to support Proof of Concept (PoC) projects.
- Explore models for sharing research resources, including data, models, tools, and other relevant materials.
- Facilitate efforts to engage in original research on AI Ethics and develop the associated frameworks to guide responsible use.
Promote AI Education and Workforce Development
- Goal: Develop an AI-enabled workforce that is adept in responsible AI practices.
- Example Activities:
- Establish incentives, processes, and structures for sharing knowledge, tools/data, experiences, etc.
- Leverage meaningful partnerships and develop local workforce with PoC projects.
- Develop and share educational content for critical thinking, responsibility, ethics, and human-computer interaction across K-12, higher education, and the broader community.
- Support retraining programs that address roles likely to be replaced or significantly transformed by AI.
Advocate for Policy and Governance
- Goal: Engage with policymakers to advocate for responsible AI practices at the local, national, and international levels.
- Example Activities:
- Actively participate with the Utah Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy and Learning Laboratory.
- Streamline a process to manage intellectual property (IP) in collaborative projects.
- Establish clear policies around data governance.
- Identify and advocate for business-friendly practices and policies that promote the democratization of AI.
- Advocate for policies that align AI development with public interest while preemptively addressing potential societal challenges.
Support Regional Infrastructure and Democratization
- Goal: Facilitate access to AI resources and infrastructure for partners across academia, government, industry, and the broader community, while addressing the growing digital divide.
- Example Activities:
- Establish mechanisms for knowledge sharing and collective growth.
- Develop strategies amongst partners to provide access to infrastructure for limited-scope projects through the framework for PoC projects.
Engage the Community
- Goal: Build awareness, promote dialogue, research, and education, inform adoption in practice, inform public policy, and advance public understanding.
- Example Activities:
- Develop mechanisms to harness collective capabilities and tackle high-impact AI research and application problems.
- Create a framework for programmatic efforts to engage in the evolving AI landscape, including relevant regulations, best practices, and resources.
- Organize events and activities to involve the broader community through collaboration with community partners.
Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
Special Interest Groups (SIGs) are established as collaborative, topic-focused units within the consortium to help advance its mission through targeted initiatives, resource development, and community engagement. Each SIG brings together stakeholders from academia, industry, government, and the broader community to address specific dimensions of responsible AI through open dialogue, shared practices, and actionable outputs.
While SIGs are instrumental in driving innovation and community-building, they are not the sole actors in achieving the consortium’s goals. Their efforts are complemented by broader consortium structures, including advisory boards, institutional partners, and community collaborators, all of whom contribute to a shared vision of responsible AI development.
SIG Leadership
Membership and Structure
The RAI-CC is envisioned as a collaborative structure that connects organizations and individuals to pursue a shared mission with goals of advancing responsible AI for societal benefit. It is supported by a governance structure based on a cooperative stewardship model and a membership structure that embraces all stakeholders. Members are expected to follow the guidelines for participation and engagement and advance the mission, vision, principles, and goals of the RAI-CC.
Membership
The RAI-CC is open to membership from academic institutions, industry partners, government agencies, community organizations, and individuals interested in advancing responsible AI and promoting positive societal impact with AI. The RAI-CC has two tiers of members: core members and community members. Core members support the RAI-CC through active engagement and the contribution of resources, including financial, infrastructure, expertise, etc. These members have a significant influence on the priorities of the RAI-CC through their decisions on strategic direction, projects, and budget. They are integrated into the pipeline of talent development and stay updated on relevant government policies and regulations. Community members support the mission and activities but are not expected to contribute resources. These members support and will be supported through advocacy, sharing of information, and participation in events and SIGs. We encourage participation from diverse backgrounds to ensure the inclusion of a wide range of perspectives.
Guidelines for Participation and Engagement
Members are expected to be actively committed to the mission, principles, and pillars of the RAI-CC, interactive and mutually respectful, and be contributing work, expertise, and resources to advance the goals of the RAI-CC. Members are held accountable for their adherence to the RAI-CC guidelines and are expected to adapt to the evolving ecosystem of responsible AI.
