All posts by Matthew Ward Agius

Australian University Science, Collection 16

Research reimagined: how generative AI is supercharging Australian university research

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Generative AI (genAI) is already having an impact in Australian science research, and it has the potential to even playing fields and advance discovery at an unprecedented rate. 

“It’s a tool for empowerment and democratisation of research and also acceleration of research,” says Professor Michael Small, Director of the University of Western Australia (UWA) Data Institute.

Small, who himself predominantly uses traditional machine learning in his own research at UWA, uses his role at the Data Institute to foster a community of practice within the university that harnesses the opportunities genAI offers to scientific research – lowering the bar in terms of access, as he puts it.

He also says there’s no question about the place of AI in universities: “we need to look at using these tools … in the right way, in the ethical way, in an appropriate way. And to do that, we need to empower the researchers to understand what is the right way.” 

The right way has increasing definition. In April, the NHMRC and ARC firmed their policies on using genAI in grant applications: as a preparation aid for applicants, and effectively as a proofing agent for assessors. Encompassing these allowances are also the principles of transparency – declaring its use – and outlining consequences for breaches.

TEQSA has also ringfenced responsible genAI use for researchers, preparing resources emphasising accountability and disclosure principles, protecting privacy – encouraging academics to acknowledge its limitations while pursuing the broad opportunities it offers.

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Professor Michael Small. Image: UWA.

Life-saving discoveries

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Professor David Ascher. Image: UQ.

Professor David Ascher is the Deputy Associate Dean in the Faculty of Science at The University of Queensland. He leads a group that harnesses AI to investigate genetic variation and its impact on proteins.

“Even though AI is not new, the new models and approaches have opened up a lot of opportunities,” Ascher says. He points to joint research with the Victorian Tuberculosis Program addressing drug-resistant tuberculosis.

Ascher says it’s challenging to perform genetic testing, but one of his PhD students used AI to show how mutations affected protein structure. They were able to “accurately identify patients that were likely to be resistant to [the TB treatment] pyrazinamide … That moved through very quickly to practical use,” Ascher explains.

In conjunction with the Baker Institute, Ascher’s team was also able to identify patients at risk of heart failure. “By using the measurements that are coming out of a patient’s ECG, we were able to pick up really minute signals using an AI algorithm that would be able to separate patients that were likely to undergo heart failure.” That discovery has now progressed to trial.

Fostering ingenuity to simulate the universe

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Professor Darren Croton. Image: ARC Centre for Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics.

Over at the Swinburne Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Professor Darren Croton has harnessed genAI to build upon his Theoretical Astrophysical Observatory, or ‘TAO’. It’s an open-source galaxy formation simulator originally built from large cosmological and galaxy formation simulation models. Now Croton and his associates use genAI to code and deploy new modules to expand TAO’s capabilities. 

“My team and I are using AI to accelerate and leverage the development of those,” Croton says.

Yet he’s most excited by what his students are doing with AI, pointing to one who used large language models (LLMs) to build upon a preexisting visual browser for the TAO.

“It’s about 400 million times better, it’s more powerful, more flexible, more customisable,” Croton says. “He’s not a hardcore programmer; he leveraged LLMs a lot, but he still directed it. He had the vision and the purpose and was able to describe what he wanted.”

Croton too acknowledges the pitfalls of unethical AI use. “My personal thing is: am I professionally comfortable with doing something?” he says, but he’s an optimist about what the technology will offer science.

“I’m getting old now,” Croton says, “but it’s the students, PhD students and the postdocs, the early career researchers coming up. My hope is they’ll learn how to use these tools effectively. It won’t replace their thinking or their understanding, or their ability to do science. It will enhance it.”

 – Written by Matthew Ward Agius

Australian University Science, Collection 16, Highlight

More than data centres: how Australian universities can contribute to sovereign AI capability

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Computational power and data centres have occupied much of Australia’s discussion around AI. But the nation’s universities have been grappling with other questions beyond these headline-grabbing topics.

AI sovereignty, and how and where Australia can invest to safeguard against potential political and commercial headwinds, is something AI leaders in the nation’s universities are considering, too.

Leaner, purpose-built AI

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Dr Sue Keay, Director of the UNSW AI Institute. Image: UNSW.

Whether for the nation or institutions, sovereign AI may not mean pursuing our own frontier models, says Dr Sue Keay, Director of the UNSW AI Institute. 

So rather than advanced general-purpose models, it could mean investing in developments that play to Australia’s strengths. That includes computationally leaner, purpose-built models tailored for the nation’s specific needs.

“There’s a lot of value in us building our own models, they just don’t need to be at that [frontier] scale,” Keay says.

But investment is needed, and Keay says it remains insufficient to grasp the opportunities before Australia. 

“For many of us [in the field], we’re not paying enough attention to developing those specific tools where Australia actually could have our own advantages,” says Keay. “Taking advantage and getting value out of a lot of our data sets that we don’t want to open up to foreign companies.” 

“At the moment, we’re not seeing a lot of investment in that space, and that makes it hard to really support the development of our AI capability.”

Keay says it’s disappointing, because Australia has proven its capability for developing technology and AI in resource-constrained environments.

Next-generation thinkers

Though universities are beginning to develop infrastructure to meet AI needs, Keay says it’s also important they equip the next generation of thinkers with the skills and know-how to develop local capability.

“Australian universities are probably one of the few places where researchers – and people in general – have the opportunity to experiment and develop AI for discovery purposes,” Keay says.

“There’s a lot of value in being able to develop that AI capability, of being able to develop a novel pipeline of research data, and developing a model that can help answer basic scientific questions. Those are exactly the sort of skills that we need in order to not only build our own AI but also to be able to evaluate the AI that we’re importing from other countries.”

Beyond sovereignty

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Professor Stephen Garton, President of the Australian Academy of Humanities. Image: LinkedIn.

It’s becoming clear that Australian universities should prioritise education and research in AI, with strong support from the Australian government. At the same time, university research can contribute beyond addressing technical questions. Professor Stephen Garton, President of the Australian Academy of Humanities, says there are important questions universities can help to answer.

“If we just focus on data sovereignty … that’s only 20% of the important conversation,” says Garton. He says ethical use, government and policy requirements, the use of AI in pedagogy, its impact on research and the community at large are also important. 

“We can’t stop it, so let’s put in place the appropriate guardrails and policy platforms to make sure we use it well,” says Garton. “And use it ethically and appropriately, and ensure that there are good jobs for people in the sector, new jobs that we haven’t imagined yet.”

– Written by Matthew Ward Agius