The Northwestern Center for Advancing Safety of Machine Intelligence (CASMI) has been recognized as one of the most notable innovations in Chicago this year.

CASMI received a Chicago Innovation Award on Thursday evening during a ceremony at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) Forum. CASMI was one of 22 organizations to be selected as a winner from a pool of 350 nominations.

CASMI, which launched in 2022 in partnership with the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Research Institutes' Digital Safety Research Institute, won the top-level award for its commitment to design best practices for artificial intelligence (AI). CASMI’s mission is to help evaluate, design, and develop machine intelligence that is safe, equitable, and beneficial.

“We're excited to win a Chicago Innovation Award,” said Kristian Hammond, Bill and Cathy Osborn Professor of Computer Science at Northwestern Engineering and director of CASMI. “We see ourselves as innovative along two tracks: first, recognizing that innovation isn’t only about what is shiny and new—it is instead about impact, both positive and negative, and second, acknowledging that there are always opportunities to learn. While we don’t know everything, we have built a collaborative network across the country to address the breadth of issues in AI and safety.”

The annual Chicago Innovation Awards honors the most innovative new products or services in the Chicago region each year. A panel of 12 judges selected the winners from 100 finalists announced in September.

CASMI has been named a Top 100 Finalist for three consecutive years.

“The Chicago region continues to be a global leader in innovation,” said Tom Kuczmarski, who co-founded the awards with Chicago journalist Dan Miller. “The 2024 winners are solving unmet needs and making a difference in healthcare, finance, the environment, artificial intelligence, education, consumer products, energy, manufacturing, social services, economic development, food, and government."

Kuczmarski is an adjunct lecturer in the Executive Education Program at Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

The winning organizations receive a variety of honors, including the opportunity to ring the Nasdaq Bell in New York City and a meeting with government leaders, such as County Cook Board of Commissioners President Toni Preckwinkle and Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias.

CASMI is a collaboration with the UL Research Institutes' Digital Safety Research Institute. UL Research Institutes is a sponsor of the 2024 Chicago Innovation Awards.