Partnership on AI: In 2014, Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk said in an interview that AI would be the biggest threat to human existence. That didn't stop him from co-chairing a billion-dollar nonprofit research effort on AI.
This, of course, has not stopped many thinkers from wondering whether artificial intelligence could really escape all human control.
Today, the five biggest tech companies including Google and its subsidiary DeepMind, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, and IBM joined forces in a partnership focused on AI. The name of the organization?
A coalition dedicated to highlighting best practices and researching the ethics that should distinguish the field of artificial intelligence.
The team notes that “we foresee great societal benefits and opportunities in the future, but we also understand that as with any new technology there will be problems and confusion about the new applications and capabilities. We look forward to working together on these important issues. We intend to address important issues such as ethics, security, transparency, privacy, bias, and fairness together.”
To that end, the new Partnership on AI promises to share best practices that will ensure a positive impact on society. It also intends to explore the use of artificial intelligence in areas such as healthcare and transportation. It also intends to provide the necessary resources such as educational materials and forums for discussions on the development of artificial intelligence.
Of course, the new AI organization is not a formal regulatory body and will not have the power to control how the technology evolves, develops, and is used globally.
