Facebook, Amazon, Google, IBM, Microsoft form new AI alliance

Artificial Intelligence is now a part of our daily lives. It's on our wrists in the form of Apple's SIRI and in our kitchens thanks to Amazon's Alexa. We use it, but do not always understand or trust it.

Now, a collection of tech industry giants has joined together to close the knowledge and trust gap. The vehicle for this new level of understanding and, maybe, acceptance, will be a brand new mouthful of an organization: the Partnership on Artificial Intelligence to Benefit People and Society. In conversation it will actually go by the more manageable "Partnership on AI." Member companies of the new alliance are all knee-deep in artificial intelligence and Machine Learning. They include Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Google's DeepMind and IBM. Notably absent, for now, is Apple.

The objective, according to Thursday's announcement, is "to address opportunities and challenges with AI technologies to benefit people and society."

Partnership AI will actually conduct open-source research, investigating AI areas such as ethics and human and AI system collaboration. One thing it will not do is lobby governments on behalf of AI initiatives by member companies.

"“The possibilities for positively impacting a global society with advances in AI are numerous, ranging from connectivity, healthcare, and transportation. As researchers in industry, we take very seriously the trust people have in us to ensure advances are made with the utmost consideration for human values," said Yann LeCun, the director of Facebook AI Research, in a release.

The partnership does plan to work with other third party AI organizations, including the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), and the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2).

“We’re excited about this historic collaboration on AI and its influences on people and society. We see great value ahead with harnessing AI advances in numerous areas, including health, education, transportation, public welfare, and personal empowerment," said Eric Horvitz, technical fellow a managing director at Microsoft Research, in a release.

IBM, which has aggressively spread the reach and influence of its own AI engine, Watson, gave Mashable exclusive access to an internal memo to global employees from CEO Ginni Rometty on the formation of the alliance and IBM's participation:

Team:

For more than a century, IBM has stood apart not only for creating world-changing innovations, but also for guiding their responsible adoption. This is foundational to why our company is respected both as an innovator and a trusted brand everywhere in the world.

As you know, the most important innovation of our time – cognitive computing, led by Watson -- is rapidly maturing and entering the mainstream of business and society. It is essential that this technology’s growth and development be robust, visionary and enduring.

That is why I am excited to tell you about an important new non-profit organization that IBM is forming with Deep Mind/Google, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft. As the founding members of the Partnership for AI, we will work together to ensure the responsible development and deployment of cognitive and AI technologies.  

As with every world-changing innovation, cognitive raises new questions, new issues and new challenges, for both business and society. These range from ethics and transparency to control and jobs. In addressing these questions, we expect to be joined by many leading universities, foundations and other organizations as we conduct research, make its results available to the world and share best practices. Together, we will develop principles on collaboration between people and AI systems, and work to advance the trustworthiness and reliability of the technology.

A world with Watson will be healthier, safer, more productive, more convenient and more personal – in ways that we are only glimpsing today. As we deliver on this profound potential, we are committed to doing so in a way that benefits not only business, but the individual and society. We make that commitment because we're IBMers.