POSE: Phase II: An Open-Source Ecosystem for Scenic

世界正在通过越来越多地使用人工智能（AI）和机器学习（ML）来改变，这些应用具有重大的社会意义，包括交通，能源，医疗保健和金融。与此同时，人们越来越担心AI和ML组件的脆性及其对可能危及整体系统安全的故障的敏感性。为了解决这些问题，研究团队开发了Scenic，这是一种开源语言和工具包，支持设计，验证和部署AI系统的系统方法。Scenic已经在多个工业规模的应用中得到了成功的展示，包括自动驾驶和航空电子设备，开源开发人员和用户群也开始增长。该项目正在为Scenic开发一个强大且可持续的开源生态系统（OSE）。该项目的创新之处包括：（i）开发一系列新的Scenic应用和演示，（ii）为Scenic OSE开发治理结构，以及（iii）创建可持续的Scenic OSE基础设施。该项目通过进一步采用正式的方法来设计跨行业，学术界和政府的AI系统，从而影响高保证度AI系统的设计。除了与行业和政府的外联外，研究人员还将Scenic和Scenic OSE用于对本科生和高中生的教育推广活动。项目方法包括以下关键组成部分。首先，自动驾驶汽车领域现有的用户基础和合作正在得到加强和扩展。第二，最终用户发现正在执行，以开发新的高影响力的应用场景在虚拟和增强现实，医疗保健，家庭和工业机器人，多智能体动态游戏，以及其他领域，沿着相应的网络的用户和合作者。第三，Scenic的治理结构正在建立，包括指导委员会，核心团队和多个工作组，与用户，合作者和利益相关者进行互动。第四，通过借鉴代码质量和安全性、测试和验证、许可、社区互动、维护和文档、传播等方面的最佳实践，正在开发可持续的Scenic OSE基础设施。该团队还参与传播和外展活动，举办研讨会、训练营和教程，并制作文档和其他材料，以支持Scenic OSE。总而言之，这个NSF POSE项目致力于将Scenic打造成一个强大的开源基金会，通过高可靠性的人工智能网络物理系统实现可靠的社会规模应用。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 world is being transformed by the increasing use of autonomy, powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), across applications of great societal importance, including in transportation, energy, healthcare, and finance. Concurrently, there is increasing concern about the brittleness of AI and ML components and their susceptibility to failures that can compromise overall system safety. To address these concerns, the team of researchers have developed Scenic, an open-source language and toolkit supporting a systematic methodology for the design, verification, and deployment of AI systems. Scenic has been successfully demonstrated in multiple industrial-scale applications, including autonomous driving and avionics, and the open-source developer and user base is starting to grow. This project is developing a robust and sustainable open-source ecosystem (OSE) for Scenic. The project’s novelties include (i) developing a range of new applications and demonstrations of Scenic, (ii) developing a governance structure for the Scenic OSE, and (iii) creating sustainable Scenic OSE infrastructure. The project impacts the design of high-assurance AI systems by furthering the adoption of formal methods for the design of AI systems across industry, academia, and government. In addition to outreach to industry and government, the researchers are using Scenic and the Scenic OSE in educational outreach activities to undergraduate and high-school students. The project approach includes the following key components. First, the existing user base and collaborations in the domain of autonomous vehicles is being strengthened and extended. Second, end-user discovery is being performed to develop new high-impact applications of Scenic in virtual and augmented reality, healthcare, home and industrial robotics, multi-agent dynamic games, and other areas, along with corresponding networks of users and collaborators. Third, a governance structure for Scenic is being created comprising a steering committee, core team, and multiple working groups that engage with users, collaborators and stakeholders. Fourth, a sustainable Scenic OSE infrastructure is being developed by drawing on best practices for code quality and security, testing and verification, licensing, community interactions, maintenance and documentation, dissemination, etc. The team is also engaging in dissemination and outreach activities, conducting workshops, bootcamps, and tutorials, and producing documentation and other materials to support the Scenic OSE. Altogether, this NSF POSE project is working to establish Scenic as a strong open-source foundation enabling dependable societal-scale applications through high-assurance AI-enabled cyber-physical systems.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.