AI Delivers the Stars and More

Artificial intelligence (AI) and data science are reshaping nearly every aspect of research, industry and society.  

One of the most compelling examples of AI’s transformative power is in my field, astrophysics. My colleagues and I at Northwestern’s Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) have been advancing innovation at the intersection of AI and astrophysics for years, positioning the University as a leader in this area. 

Northwestern’s ascent is reflected most recently in our leadership of the NSF-Simons AI Institute for the Sky (SkAI Institute). Jointly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Simons Foundation, the SkAI Institute will develop AI astronomy tools that will allow researchers to make breakthrough discoveries.

As founding director of the SkAI Institute, I have the privilege of bringing together astrophysicists and AI experts from 24 institutions — including 14 faculty members from across the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and the McCormick School of Engineering — to develop cutting-edge machine learning techniques for analyzing vast astronomical datasets.

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, for instance, is poised to launch an AI-powered sky survey that is unprecedented in scope. The Legacy Survey of Space and Time will create the widest, deepest images yet of the Southern sky and will generate about 20 terabytes of data per night, holding answers to the universe’s most elusive secrets. Such ambitious surveys require researchers to process enormous amounts of astrophysical information. That’s when AI tools, such as the ones the SkAI Institute is developing, become essential. 

Northwestern is also a founding partner of the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) international consortium, which is constructing a ground-based telescope in Chile’s Atacama Desert. Launching in the 2030s, the GMT will be the world’s most powerful optical telescope, producing images 10 times clearer than the Hubble Space Telescope. (Read more about the GMT consortium here.)  

Northwestern’s involvement will create tremendous opportunities for our students and faculty. Specifically, Northwestern researchers will develop and apply AI tools to enhance the GMT’s abilities to search for Earth-like planets across the Milky Way and explore the relationship between galaxies and black holes. We expect this innovative telescope to fundamentally change our understanding of the universe and our place within it. 

Recognizing the transformative potential of AI and data science (DS), Northwestern has launched an ambitious DS/AI initiative to foster interdisciplinary collaboration. AI and DS do not exist in silos — their power is amplified when combined with expertise from other fields. The same AI techniques that astronomers use to detect faint signals from distant galaxies are also used in medicine to diagnose diseases, in engineering to optimize complex systems and in the social sciences to analyze human behavior patterns. Our DS/AI initiative will ensure that insights gained in one domain inform and advance research in many others. 

Finally, our DS/AI initiative is not just about applying AI to existing problems; it is also about defining the future of AI itself. We need to invest in fundamental AI research and expand DS/AI educational offerings. By advancing research and training the next generation of leaders, Northwestern is ensuring that it remains a global powerhouse across all disciplines as they transform in the age of AI. 

Vicky Kalogera is the Daniel I. Linzer Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and founding director of CIERA.