Enabling the use of AI in Safety-Critical Systems

14 June 2024, Barcelona, Spain

Co-located with the 28th Ada-Europe International Conference on Reliable Software Technologies (AEiC 2024), June 11-14

The increasing computing performance delivered by embedded platforms has made possible the realization of advanced and performance-hungry functionalities in real time. Those functionalities, often related to autonomous operation and/or to the comprehension of complex scenarios, largely rely on AI software as the only solution delivering sufficiently accurate results. However, both, AI software and powerful embedded computing platforms, are at odds with the development process of safety-critical systems, which is described by domain-specific standards and guidelines, such as ISO 26262 in automotive, DO178C and DO254 in avionics, and IEC 61508 for electronic industrial systems. Difficulties arise from (1) the need for "divide & conquer" strategies pursued by safety regulations, which aim at decomposing systems iteratively until having components sufficiently simple to be realized, understood and tested, and (2) the perceived black-box nature of AI software and high-performance computing devices, whose complexity cannot be broken down as needed by safety standards

Several public (e.g. EC funded projects) and private activities (e.g. AI-focused working groups) have started recently to address this challenge aiming at (1) making AI software explainable, with the term explainable often overloaded to refer to transparent, reliable, robust, and verifiable, among other desired characteristics of AI for safety-critical systems; (2) containing embedded platform complexity, especially when running AI software, using appropriate system software and middleware support; and (3) adapting safety regulations conceived for control software to admit the data-dependent and stochastic nature of AI software in the context of the development of (and use in) safety-critical systems.

This workshop will present a number of challenges in the form of industrial use cases building on AI, as well as the latest advances in terms of safety-relevant system development, AI solutions amenable for safety-critical systems, and system software and middleware support to contain and model platform complexity.

Organizers

• Francisco J. Cazorla (Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Spain)
• Jaume Abella (Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Spain)