Google, Facebook and IBM to discuss artificial intelligence

Five major tech companies have formed an organization for consultation on artificial intelligence. The aim of Partnership on AI is to raise public awareness of artificial intelligence and to discuss guidelines, including in the field of ethics.

‘The Partnership on Artificial Intelligence to Benefit People and Society’, as the foundation is called in full, was founded by Amazon, Google, Facebook, IBM and Microsoft. The five occupy a place on the board, which consists of ten members. The other board members are scientists affiliated with various universities. The main parties that are missing from the collaboration are Apple, Baidu and Intel. However, The Partnership on AI says more participants will join.

The participants are major competitors in the field of artificial intelligence, but the organization must facilitate consultation on issues such as ethics, privacy, interoperability and reliability of techniques. The founders state that it is not a lobby group that wants to influence politics.

The influence of technology on people and to foster an understanding of what technology entails are also among the objectives of the consultative body. The companies behind the organization say that artificial intelligence can help solve major problems facing humanity, such as climate, food, health care and education.