UNM Prof Joins Major AI Research Initiative

Published Date : 23/08/2025 

Assistant Professor Sarah Dreier from the University of New Mexico has been selected to work on a significant grant-funded AI project, aimed at advancing the transparency and reliability of AI tools. 

As Artificial Intelligence continues to grow at a rapid pace, so will the research behind it at The University of New Mexico. Political Science Assistant Professor Sarah Dreier has been awarded as one of several experts across the country picked to work on a substantial grant-funded project on AI.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) and NVIDIA awarded a combined $152 million to the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (Ai2), spanning the next five years. This funding also includes four academic institutions as sub-awardees: the University of Washington, the University of Hawaii at Hilo, the University of New Hampshire, and The University of New Mexico.

Many generative AI tools that users interact with are proprietary and lack transparency, leaving individuals unaware of how these models are trained or how their own data is utilized. This grant will support Ai2 and its partner universities in developing a national-level, fully open AI ecosystem and infrastructure designed to promote scientific discovery through Artificial Intelligence. In doing so, it will also contribute to advancing the science of AI itself. The goal is to make these tools more open, transparent, and reliable. The initiative builds on the Allen Institute for AI (AI2)’s existing family of high-performing open text models and its open, industry-leading multimodal language models.

Pictured: Assistant Professor Sarah Dreier

As co-PI, Prof. Dreier will co-lead the data curation piece of the initiative. Building a multimodal language model begins with the construction of a large collection of unannotated data, including text and data from other modalities like images and code. “My role builds on my own academic research that evaluates how well LLMs handle unique, idiosyncratic text generated by politicians and policymakers,” Dreier said.

Prof. Dreier will also play a key role in training a diverse workforce, which will include hosting educational sessions to demonstrate how UNM researchers can use the infrastructure to enhance their research. These sessions will also provide an opportunity to gather feedback and brainstorm new applications for the infrastructure that will support UNM research.

“My hope is that access to this cutting-edge infrastructure, training, and computing power will help train and empower our faculty and students, and, in turn, help fuel economic innovation in New Mexico,” she said.

About the team funded by this new initiative, Dreier said, “I am honored to be working with researchers I admire, and I hope this process can jump-start waves of scientific advancement in our state and beyond.” 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS): 

Q: What is the total funding amount for the AI project?

A: The total funding amount for the AI project is $152 million, awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and NVIDIA to the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (Ai2).

Q: Which universities are involved in this AI project?

A: The universities involved in this AI project are the University of Washington, the University of Hawaii at Hilo, the University of New Hampshire, and The University of New Mexico.

Q: What is the main goal of this AI project?

A: The main goal of this AI project is to develop a national-level, fully open AI ecosystem and infrastructure that promotes scientific discovery through Artificial Intelligence, making these tools more open, transparent, and reliable.

Q: What is Assistant Professor Sarah Dreier's role in this project?

A: Assistant Professor Sarah Dreier's role is to co-lead the data curation piece of the initiative and to play a key role in training a diverse workforce, including hosting educational sessions for UNM researchers.

Q: How does Prof. Dreier hope this project will benefit UNM?

A: Prof. Dreier hopes that access to cutting-edge infrastructure, training, and computing power will help train and empower UNM faculty and students, and help fuel economic innovation in New Mexico. 

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