Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an interdisciplinary field that draws knowledge from multiple disciplines like computing, statistics and mathematics towards addressing real-world problems in various domains. The NUS AI Institute focuses on research excellence that empowers individuals, communities, and businesses, and fosters entrepreneurship, for the public good in Singapore and in the World. Building on the capabilities in multiple disciplines, the research has been organised in a comprehensive and complementing manner.

The Institute conducts basic research in fundamental areas of AI hardware and software systems, AI theory (learning and inference), responsible and safe AI, reasoning AI, and resource-efficient AI. The foundational models developed underpin a wide range of real-world applications across AI+X domains. These domains correspond to the key sectors in society, such as healthcare, finance and education, where AI can have significant impact.

The NUS AI Institute also studies the societal implications of AI systems and their deployment in society. Hence, research is also focused towards how AI governance and policies can be developed to ensure that AI is used and deployed responsibly, ethically, fairly, and inclusively.