{"id":352,"date":"2023-01-13T12:32:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-13T17:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research-multi-dev.utk.edu\/energy-dev\/?page_id=352"},"modified":"2026-04-14T16:16:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T20:16:04","slug":"applied-ai","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/research.utk.edu\/aitn\/research-areas\/applied-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"Applied AI"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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applied ai<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Empowering better health, informed decisions, and faster progress<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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UT faculty collaborate to effectively, ethically implement and manage AI systems in settings ranging from classrooms and boardrooms to hospitals and farms. These AI systems, many of which are developed right here at UT, take a variety of forms including generative AI, smart sensors, robots, and cognitive digital twin platforms. They are designed to enhance human well-being, empower informed policy and decision-making, and improve resource and process efficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our applied AI researchers are enabling caregivers, investors, policy makers, supply chain managers, and other professionals to put AI to work. They\u2019re solving real-world challenges in real time\u2014to make a lasting difference.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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UT\u2019s Approach<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At UT, domain experts collaborate with AI researchers to ensure that innovations are both cutting-edge and deeply relevant. In health and medicine, teams from UT, UT Medical Center, and the UT Health Science Center College of Medicine apply natural language processing, reinforcement learning, and explainable AI to clinical data, enabling faster patient-specific decisions in areas such as Alzheimer\u2019s disease, cancer, and sepsis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faculty explore AI with wearable technologies to prevent sports injuries and with language models to address health literacy. Beyond human health, researchers extend AI to veterinary medicine and agriculture\u2014developing farm-level monitoring and precision feeding systems, robotic field solutions, and tools to strengthen animal and crop health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Applied AI also drives business and economic innovation, where UT researchers are creating resources to optimize freight transport, forecast demand, guide financial decisions, and improve supply chain resilience. Some translate their work through entrepreneurship, developing AI-powered platforms for big data visualization. In the public sector, faculty use AI to expand access to complex datasets, inform evidence-based policy, and advise leaders on antitrust and competition law. Both students and faculty engage critically with AI\u2019s long-term impacts through ethics, philosophy, sociology, and literature, supporting the responsible adoption of AI across sectors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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UT is positioned to pioneer AI applications in animal health and veterinary medicine. We are making progress on four fronts: incorporating AI to support diagnostics; training our faculty and students to use AI inside and outside the classroom while being well-versed in relevant ethical challenges; leveraging AI to improve process efficiency; and lastly, leveraging AI to mine valuable insights in medical records.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Dennis Makau, Assistant Professor of Biomedical and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Highlights<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Collaboration Between UT and UTMC Could Revolutionize Breast Cancer Diagnosis<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Researchers in engineering and medical fields are using AI and machine learning to significantly speed up the time it takes to accurately analyze pathology reports, enabling clinicians to turn those findings into actionable treatment plans for breast cancer patients.

Learn how AI can be applied to save lives. <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Li Develops Revolutionary Flood Hazard Forecasting System <\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Haochen Li and an interdisciplinary team are enabling Appalachian communities to better assess flood risks, plan emergency responses, develop infrastructure, and implement mitigation strategies. Li intends to make this predictive tool publicly available on a web platform.

Learn more about this tool. <\/a>

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UTIA Researchers Win USDA Grant for Automation Technology for Plant Nursery Industry<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Scientists, economists, communicators, and Extension specialists in the UT Institute of Agriculture are working alongside plant nursery partners to develop and accelerate the adoption of intelligent automated systems\u2014and evaluating the positive impacts for nursery employees.

Learn more about this work.<\/a>

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UTRF\u2019s Accelerate Fund Invests in an Innovative AI Health Care Solution <\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The UT Research Foundation has supported faculty member Jian Huang\u2019s startup, VisualizAI. The company is working to commercialize UT\u2019s AI-driven data visualization and analytics platform to drive value and outcomes in data-intensive professional settings, starting with health care.

Learn how UT research is benefiting businesses.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Facilities & Initiatives<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

UT faculty apply\u2014and enable others to apply\u2014effective AI systems in numerous applications. Their work is performed both on campus and in business, community, and health care settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n