Google has launched an “AI for Social Good” program to support artificial intelligence research and engineering with a focus on developing solutions for a range of global challenges. From an October 29th Google Blog post by Jeff Dean (Google AI): For the past few years we’ve been applying core Google AI research and engineering to projects with positive societal impact, including forecasting floods, protecting whales, and predicting famine. Today we’re unifying these efforts in a new program called AI for Social Good. We’re applying AI to a wide range of problems, partnering with external organizations to work toward solutions. The program will apply these core research and engineering efforts to AI projects with the potential to create positive […]

On October 24, 2018, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine‘s Forum on Aging, Disability, and Independence will host a workshop in Washington, DC that will explore the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to foster a balance of safety and autonomy for older adults and people with disabilities who strive to live as independently as possible.  AI offers the possibility to greatly benefit Americans who are older than 65 or those who are living with a disability. AI systems present the potential for improving accessibility and transportation systems; increasing social connections; and lowering health care costs. However, there is a significant lack of evidence about the impact of such technologies, which points to a need […]

Last Thursday, Politico held an AI Summit: Innovation and Governance as “a global leadership gathering of policymakers, business leaders and experts for solutions-driven conversations on the impact of AI on governments, industries and society.” Some notable government participants included Representative Will Hurd (Texas), France Córdova (National Science Foundation), and Stacy Dixon (Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity). In his opening remarks, Hurd said that we need to “double down on basic research.”  The problem with basic research is that “often times it is hard to understand the return on investment of basic research. People believe the government should have the same returns as venture capital, private equity, but that’s just not possible. […]

In July, Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Council member Manuela Veloso will join JPMorgan Chase & Co. as head of artificial-intelligence research. She is currently the head of the Machine Learning Department at Carnegie Mellon University. From the J.P. Morgan Press Release: J.P. Morgan has already started to apply machine learning technology across its businesses and functions, and this expanded effort will be aimed at identifying further opportunities. A.I. is among the areas of investment within the bank’s annual technology budget of $10.8 billion, with more than half earmarked for new investments. Veloso is a Past President of AAAI (Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence), and the co-founder and a Past President of […]

CCC Council member Maja Mataric from the University of Southern California provided contributions to this post. If we train Artificial Intelligence (AI) to do our work for us it will still need to be periodically checked for errors and random noise. This detailed human oversight is not something we can skip. As AI has more and more power, it will also have more responsibility and the decisions it makes could be deadly if incorrect. We still have so much to learn about building machines that could potentially make life-altering decisions, and we cannot predict what kinds of serious engineering flaws will occur in the future. Michael I. Jordan from the […]

The Stanford One Hundred Year Study on Artificial Intelligence, AI100, launched in Fall 2014, is an endowed, long-range investigation of Artificial Intelligence (AI). It examines AI systems and the technological, ethical, and policy opportunities and dilemmas that they present to individuals, communities, and society. The AI100 Standing Committee (AI100SC) oversees the Study’s core activity: Designing and carrying out, on a five-year cycle, studies that assess the current state and future potential of AI-enabled computing systems. Resulting Study Panel Reports aim to inform and prompt action from diverse stakeholders as they navigate the promise and challenges that AI advancements raise for how people work, live, and play. The AI100SC, in preparation […]