Some of the top names in the global tech industry have joined hands to explore opportunities and challenges with Artificial Intelligence technologies that could help benefit people and society significantly. The tech giants coming together in the cause include Facebook, Microsoft, Google (and Google’s DeepMind), IBM, and Amazon.

Called the Partnership on Artificial Intelligence to Benefit People and Society (PAI), the new nonprofit organization has been established with an aim of studying and formulating the best possible practices on AI technologies, which can not only advance the public’s understanding of AI, but also serve as an open platform for discussion and engagement about AI and its influences on common people and society.

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The participating tech giants will be contributing by putting-in money and research resources, which could include data, talent, or open source code. Representatives from all the participating companies will find a place in the non-profit organization’s board, which would also include eminent personalities from the world of nonprofit, academia, and policy and ethics experts. The basic plan outline includes studies, discussions, public outreach, and best practices in general. The PAI also has tenets.

Artificial intelligence technologies hold great potential not only in raising the quality of common people's lives, but can also help in addressing some of the most important global challenges being faced by them such as inequality, climate change, health, food, and education.

The current members of the non-profit organisation include Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research group head Yann LeCun, Google's DeepMind co-founder and head of applied AI Mustafa Suleyman, Google Research senior scientist Greg Corrado, Microsoft technical fellow Eric Horvitz, Amazon director of machine learning Ralf Herbrich, and IBM research scientist Francesca Rossi.

According to a press statement given out by the PAI, “Together, the organization’s members will conduct research, recommend best practices, and publish research under an open license in areas such as ethics, fairness, and inclusivity; transparency, privacy, and inter-operability; collaboration between people and AI systems; and the trustworthiness, reliability, and robustness of the technology. It does not intend to lobby government or other policy making bodies.” The statement also added, that the PAI is currently in talks with several outside organizations such as the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence.

Some of the companies which are currently working in the Artificial Intelligence segment are Apple, Pinterest, and Baidu. In addition to software, AI can also prove to be helpful in making a substantial difference in the performance of hardware systems like robots and the currently famous self-driving cars. The main purpose of PAI is to benefit people and society, hence, the participating companies will work to ensure that the use of AI technologies remains primarily helpful, not hurtful.

It is interesting to note that PAI has come into existence almost a year after the formation of OpenAI, a nonprofit organisation with financial support from industry giants like Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Sam Altman, and others.
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