SBIR Phase I: Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered platform for evaluating and developing cultural competence and diversity, equity and inclusion awareness

该小企业创新研究 (SBIR) 第一阶段项目的更广泛/商业影响侧重于开发具有文化能力、类人性和同理心的人工智能 (AI) 代理，用于学前班 (pre-K) 研究生院教育环境。从最广泛的意义上讲，文化能力是指组织或个人与来自不同文化背景的个人交往的能力和有效性。拟议的创新旨在为受社会科学启发的人工智能代理创建一个新市场，并让两所传统黑人学院或大学 (HBCU) 在软件开发中发挥重要作用。该项目对社会进步的影响至关重要，因为多样性、公平和包容 (DEI) 培训是许多组织的高度战略优先事项，但往往不是工作环境的一部分。培训计划的成功可以带来更加公平和包容的工作场所、教育环境和机构，最终有助于建立一个更加公平和包容的社会。该项目旨在提高用户对人工智能技术的满意度和信任度，通过创造美国就业机会、年收入和出口来推动创新并产生可观的收入流。通过以人为主导的干预措施来发展文化能力的传统途径可能会破坏工作环境，难以在没有人为偏见的情况下进行衡量，并可能导致工作环境中的不和谐。 SBIR 第一阶段项目旨在开发具有文化能力和同理心的人工智能 (AI) 代理，以编码和标记用户对复杂的多样性、公平性和包容性 (DEI) 问题的主观反应，同时保持较高的社会可信度。通过使用基于研究的社会科学框架，该项目将开发无偏见且具有 DEI 意识的人工智能代理，以评估和整理组织利益相关者的文化能力。主要目标包括获取大规模人类生成的数据来训练人工智能代理识别用户对复杂 DEI 观察的主观反应，并通过令人回味的小插图或开放式调查问题进行提示。第一阶段旨在将概念验证转变为具有复杂人工智能功能的可扩展平台，适用于教育市场，从而打造更具包容性的工作场所，并加深对 20 岁前幼儿园环境的理解。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project focusses on developing culturally-competent, humanlike,m and empathetic artificial intelligence (AI) agents for use within the pre-kindergarten (pre-K)-graduate school educational context. In the broadest sense, cultural competence refers to an organization's or individual's capacity and effectiveness in engaging with individuals from cultural backgrounds different from their own. The proposed innovation seeks to create a new market for social science-inspired AI agents, with significant roles for two Historically Black College or Universities (HBCUs) in the software development. The project’s impact on social advancement is crucial as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training is a high strategic priority for many organizations but often not part of the work environment. The success of the training program can lead to more equitable and inclusive workplaces, educational environments, and institutions, ultimately contributing to a more equitable and inclusive society. The project aims to increase user satisfaction and trust in AI technology, driving innovation and generating significant revenue streams by creating US jobs, annual revenue, and exports. The traditional routes for developing cultural competence through human-led interventions can disrupt the work environment, be difficult to measure without human bias, and may lead to discord within the work environment. This SBIR Phase I project aims to develop culturally competent and empathetic Artificial intelligence (AI) agents to codify and label users' subjective responses to complex diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) issues while maintaining high social trustworthiness. Through the use of research-based social science frameworks, the project will develop bias-free and DEI-aware AI agents to assess and codify cultural competence among organizational stakeholders. Key objectives include sourcing large scale human-generated data to train AI agents to identify users' subjective responses to complex DEI observations and prompting via evocative vignettes or open-ended survey questions. Phase I aims to transform a proof-of-concept into a scalable platform with sophisticated AI capabilities for the educational marketplace, leading to more inclusive workplaces and a deeper understanding of pre-Kindergarten-20 environments.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.