LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, Omidyar Network create $27 million fund for AI in the public interest

LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, Omidyar Network, and John S. and the James L. Knight Foundation have today joined forces to create the Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence Fund. The research fund will focus on AI for the public good and will bring a more diverse range of voices, like faith leaders and policymakers, to AI research and development. Issues the fund may address include ethical design, potential harmful and beneficial impacts of AI, and AI that works in the public interest. "Artificial intelligence and complex algorithms, fueled by big data and deep-learning systems, are quickly changing how we live and work -- from the news stories we see, to the loans for which we qualify, to the jobs we perform," the group said in a statement provided to VentureBeat. "Because of this pervasive but often concealed impact, it is imperative that AI research and development be shaped by a broad range of voices -- not only by engineers and corporations, but also by social scientists, ethicists, philosophers, faith leaders, economists, lawyers and policymakers."