PARTNERSHIP ON AI: TO BENEFIT PEOPLE AND SOCIETY

Introduction

We are at an inflection point in the development and application of AI technologies. The upswing in AI competencies, fueled by data, computation, and advances in algorithms for machine learning, perception, planning, and natural language, promise great value to people and society.

However, with successes come new concerns and challenges based on the effects of those technologies on people’s lives. These concerns include the safety and trustworthiness of AI technologies, the fairness and transparency of systems, and the intentional as well as inadvertent influences of AI on people and society.

On another front, while AI promises new capabilities and efficiencies, the advent of these new technologies has raised understandable questions about potential disruptions to the nature and distribution of jobs. While there is broad agreement that AI advances are poised to generate great wealth, it remains uncertain how that wealth will be shared broadly. We do, however, also believe that there will be great opportunities to harness AI methods to solve important societal challenges.

We designed the Partnership on AI, in part, so that we can invest more attention and effort on harnessing AI to contribute to solutions for some of humanity’s most challenging problems, including making advances in health and wellbeing, transportation, education, and the sciences.

We are excited about the prospect of coming together to collaborate on addressing concerns, rough edges, and rising challenges around AI, as well as to work together to pursue the grand opportunities and possibilities of the long-term dream of mastering the computational science of intelligence.

We see great things ahead for AI, with the potential for these technologies to improve the quality of people’s lives throughout the world.

The activities of the Partnership on AI will be determined by its Partners, but from the outset the hope has been to create a place for open critique and reflection. It is our intention that the Partnership on AI will be collaborative, constructive, and work openly with all. Crucially, the Partnership on AI has been explicitly designed to bring together researchers, academics, businesses, policy makers, and all with an interest in this endeavor, in a structure that ensures balanced governance by diverse stakeholders. We are delighted that you are considering joining us, and look forward to working with you in the years ahead.

— Eric Horvitz and Mustafa Suleyman Founding Co-Chairs

GOALS

DEVELOP AND SHARE BEST PRACTICES

Support research, discussions, identification, sharing, and recommendation of best practices in the research, development, testing, and fielding of AI technologies. Address such areas as fairness and inclusivity, explanation and transparency, security and privacy, values and ethics, collaboration between people and AI systems, interoperability of systems, and of the trustworthiness, reliability, containment, safety, and robustness of the technology.

PROVIDE AN OPEN AND INCLUSIVE PLATFORM FOR DISCUSSION AND ENGAGEMENT

Create and support opportunities for AI researchers and key stakeholders, including people in technology, law, policy, government, civil liberties, and the greater public, to communicate directly and openly with each other about relevant issues to AI and its influences on people and society. Ensure that key stakeholders have the knowledge, resources, and overall capacity to participate fully.

ADVANCE PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING

Advance public understanding and awareness of AI by multiple constituencies, including writing and other communications on core technologies, potential benefits, and costs. Act as a trusted and expert point of contact as questions, concerns, and aspirations arise from the public and others in the area of AI. Regularly update key constituents on the current state of AI progress.

IDENTIFY AND FOSTER ASPIRATIONAL EFFORTS IN AI FOR SOCIALLY BENEFICIAL PURPOSES

Seek out, support, celebrate, and highlight aspirational efforts in AI for socially benevolent applications. Identify areas of untapped opportunity, including promising technologies and applications not being explored by academia and industry R&D.

work

ENGAGEMENT OF EXPERTS

The regular engagement of experts across multiple disciplines (including but not limited to psychology, philosophy, economics, finance, sociology, public policy, and law) to discuss and provide guidance on emerging issues related to the impact of AI on society.

ENGAGEMENT OF OTHER STAKEHOLDERS

The engagement of AI users and developers, as well as representatives of industry sectors that may be impacted by AI (such as healthcare, financial services, transportation, commerce, manufacturing, telecommunications, and media) to support best practices in the research, development, and use of AI technology within specific domains.

THIRD-PARTY SUPPORT

The design, execution, and financial support of objective third-party studies on best practices for the ethics, safety, fairness, inclusiveness, trust, and robustness for AI research, applications, and services. The identification and celebration of important work in these fields. The support of aspirational projects in AI that would greatly benefit people and society.

INFORMATIONAL MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT

The development of informational materials on the current and future likely trajectories of research and development in core AI and related disciplines.

tennets

We believe that artificial intelligence technologies hold great promise for raising the quality of people’s lives and can be leveraged to help humanity address important global challenges such as climate change, food, inequality, health, and education.

The Partnership on AI shares the following tenets:

1. We will seek to ensure that AI technologies benefit and empower as many people as possible.
2. We will educate and listen to the public and actively engage stakeholders to seek their feedback on our focus, inform them of our work, and address their questions.
3. We are committed to open research and dialog on the ethical, social, economic, and legal implications of AI.
4. We believe that AI research and development efforts need to be actively engaged with and accountable to a broad range of stakeholders.
5. We will engage with and have representation from stakeholders in the business community to help ensure that domain-specific concerns and opportunities are understood and addressed.
6. We will work to maximize the benefits and address the potential challenges of AI technologies, by:
   1. Working to protect the privacy and security of individuals.
   2. Striving to understand and respect the interests of all parties that may be impacted by AI advances.
   3. Working to ensure that AI research and engineering communities remain socially responsible, sensitive, and engaged directly with the potential influences of AI technologies on wider society.
   4. Ensuring that AI research and technology is robust, reliable, trustworthy, and operates within secure constraints.
   5. Opposing development and use of AI technologies that would violate international conventions or human rights, and promoting safeguards and technologies that do no harm.
7. We believe that it is important for the operation of AI systems to be understandable and interpretable by people, for purposes of explaining the technology.
8. We strive to create a culture of cooperation, trust, and openness among AI scientists and engineers to help us all better achieve these goals.

partners

In support of the mission to benefit people and society, the Partnership on AI intends to conduct research, organize discussions, share insights, provide thought leadership, consult with relevant third parties, respond to questions from the public and media, and create educational material that advance the understanding of AI technologies including machine perception, learning, and automated reasoning.