Governance, Stewardship & Training
NIOO has an AI committee. This committee meets four times per year and is responsible for
- overseeing developments in the field of AI outside and inside NIOO;
- assessing the use of AI in research;
- providing tools and support for the use of AI at NIOO;
- reviewing and assessing advantages and risks of using AI;
- and updating the NIOO AI policy if needed.
The NIOO AI committee will connect with relevant committees and teams within and outside NIOO to enable responsible use and implementation of AI tools at NIOO. These committees and platforms include:
- The NIOO management team;
- RIAB for research ethics and responsible use of AI in research;
- Green Team for environmental awareness and environmental impact of AI;
- ICT and Bioinformatics for technological implementation of tools and AI support;
- RSO for NIOO AI Library (with prompt library and practical guidelines);
- SURF for tools and interfaces for using AI in a safe way;
- Bureau and other KNAW institutes for sharing ideas, guidelines and infrastructure for use of AI;
- LTER-LIFE for (the development of) ecology-specific AI tools and technologies.
The NIOO AI committee consists of at least six members: four researchers/research assistants (each department), one representative of CMS, the head of RSO, and the NIOO privacy coordinator (table 1).
| Role | Responsibilities |
|---|---|
| 4 researchers / research assistants | Representing research departments, connecting to department heads, overview and contact point of the use of AI tools at research departments, connection to RIAB, Green Team, LTER-LIFE |
| 1 CMS representative | Representing Central Management and Services, connecting to section heads |
| Head of RSO | Chair, overview and contact point of the use of AI tools at CMS, connecting to MT, ICT, bioinformatics, KNAW and SURF, responsible for prompt library and practical guidelines |
| Privacy coordinator | Securing that NIOO AI guidelines and use of AI is in line with use of privacy-sensitive data and information |
Table 1. Overview members and responsibilities of the AI committee at NIOO
NIOO has an AI Library (ai.nioo.knaw.nl), set up as a Gitlab community for easy collaboration, maintained and managed by RSO. The AI Library includes:
- An up-to-date overview of tools to use and tools not to use (e.g. tools that do not comply with scientific integrity, privacy regulations or ethical guidelines);
- Practical guidelines for using AI, publishing models and reporting on the use of AI in articles, reports and theses;
- An open prompt library for storing and re-using prompts;
- This policy document, including practical examples.
NIOO will organise training sessions and discussions on the use of AI. These meetings have three aims:
- To equip researchers, students and staff with the necessary information, techniques and tools to use AI responsibly and effectively (e.g. how to write prompts, which tools to use for what etc.);
- To discuss together how we want to use AI at NIOO in a responsible, ethical and upright manner;
- To learn how to use AI during supervision and how to guide students, PhDs, and PDs to use AI responsibly.
The NIOO AI committee can organise (or initiate the organisation of) trainings and discussions, and this can be done together with e.g. HR, ICT, Bioinformatics, LTER-LIFE, PR, RIAB, Green Team, and KNAW or other organisations outside NIOO depending on the aim of training or discussion and the expertise needed.