I'll admit that I was more than a little skeptical when the Knight Foundation announced last week that it would award $3 million in grants to help local news organizations use artificial intelligence. My first reaction was that dousing the cash with gasoline and tossing a match would be just as effective. But then I started thinking about how AI has enhanced my own work as a journalist. For instance, just a few years ago I had two unappetizing choices after I recorded an interview: transcribing it myself or sending it out to an actual human being to do the work at considerable expense. Now I use an automated system, based on AI, that does a decent job at a fraction of the cost. Or consider Google, whose search engine makes use of AI.

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the sheer number of images or documents, or hours of video footage you needed to sort through for a report? Training a machine to do the work for you may be the answer. Learn how artificial intelligence can improve your reporting with the new course from the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas and instructor John Keefe, "Hands-on Machine Learning Solutions for Journalists." The four-week Big Online Course (BOC) runs from Nov. 18 to Dec. 15, 2019 and costs $95, which includes a certificate for those who successfully complete the course requirements. "At the end of this class, students will have a much better understanding of machine learning. They will actually be able to sort documents, especially images, based on the criteria they set up," said Keefe, who uses these techniques in his work as investigations editor at Quartz.

Not all tech billionaires are advocates of artificial intelligence (AI). Some are so worried about the effects AI is having on society that they are spending their billions trying to monitor it. This, in turn, has created a new frontier in philanthropy. For Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay, AI is such a concern that last year he set up Luminate, a London-based organization that advocates for civic empowerment, data and digital rights, financial transparency, and independent media. Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay, has supported monitoring artificial intelligence.

Not all tech billionaires are advocates of artificial intelligence (AI). Some are so worried about the effects AI is having on society that they are spending their billions trying to monitor it. This, in turn, has created a new frontier in philanthropy. For Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay, AI is such a concern that last year he set up Luminate, a London-based organization that advocates for civic empowerment, data and digital rights, financial transparency, and independent media. Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay, has supported monitoring artificial intelligence.

The term "artificial intelligence" has been around since 1956, and yet many journalists are unfamiliar with its history and impact on the world today, even as its influence grows everywhere, including on how we gather and report the news. The next massive open online course (MOOC) in Spanish, and the Knight Center's first in partnership with Microsoft, will familiarize students with the foundations of artificial intelligence (AI) and how it impacts the news industry. "Artificial Intelligence: How to cover AI and understand its impact on journalism," will run from Oct. 22 to Nov. 25, 2018 and will be taught by Sandra Crucianelli, a veteran instructor for Knight Center MOOCs and a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). "The course will be a wonderful opportunity for those who have not yet become familiar with artificial intelligence technologies," Crucianelli said. "We will be sharing definitions, but also analyzing applications, examples and there also will be online discussions. For example, will robots replace journalists? This is a question that many of us ask and I believe the exchange of opinions will be very interesting."

Scientists have teamed up in a $27 million global initiative to ensure that artificial intelligence doesn't turn against humanity. The MIT Media Lab and the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University are spearheading the effort, serving as the founding institutions. As AI becomes increasingly integral in our everyday lives, the researchers say it is necessary to bridge the gap between humans and machines, while preventing the'plagues' of society from being adopted in the process. Scientists have teamed up in a $27 million global initiative to ensure that artificial intelligence doesn't turn against humanity. The initiative, known as the Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence Fund, is backed with $27 million from the Knight Foundation, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, the Omidyar Network, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Jim Pallotta, founder of the Raptor Group.

The MIT Media Lab and the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University will serve as the founding anchor institutions for a new initiative aimed at bridging the gap between the humanities, the social sciences, and computing by addressing the global challenges of artificial intelligence (AI) from a multidisciplinary perspective. "Artificial intelligence agents will impact every part of our lives in every society on Earth. Technology and commerce will see to that," says Alberto Ibargüen, president and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which is among those supporting the initiative. Initially funded with $27 million from the Knight Foundation; LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman; the Omidyar Network; the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; and Jim Pallotta, founder of the Raptor Group, the Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence Fund's mission is to catalyze global research that advances AI for the public interest, with an emphasis on applied research and education. The fund will also seek to advance public understanding of AI. "AI's rapid development brings along a lot of tough challenges," explains Joi Ito, director of the MIT Media Lab.

Artificial intelligence could make major strides in 2017, as machine learning and new advances means that we can create intelligence that can pass the Turing test and outthink humans in the process. But at the same time, tech gurus are worried about the ethical complications which could result from the development of AI. The Knight Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to activities such as promoting journalism and innovation, is teaming up with tech gurus including LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and eBay founder Pierre Omidyar to establish a fund called the Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence Fund. In a press release, the Knight Foundation said that the fund will be used "to apply the humanities, the social sciences and other disciplines to the development of AI." It will work with educational institutes like MIT Media Lab and Harvard's Berkman Klein Center to ensure that technology builds ethical AIs that will benefit society.

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer. According to the Wall Street Journal, artificial intelligence spending is geared up for a major boom, and some of Silicon Valley's wealthiest are investing big to ensure AI's road ahead is not just safe but ethically sound. The Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence Fund aims to support global efforts to "[advance] the development of ethical AI in the public interest," and specifically in areas of education and applied research.

A new 27 million dollar fund aimed at teaching AI religion, morality, and ethics has been collected from a group of high-profile investors. MIT media lab and the Berkman Kein Centre for Internet and Society at Harvard will serve as hubs for the initiative, which is dubbed the Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence Fund. The purpose of the fund is to apply the humanities, social sciences, and other non-technologically based fields to push the development of AI in a more positive and conscious direction. Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn, as well as eBay founder Pierre Omidyar each committed $10 million, while the Knight Foundation, a non-profit which supports areas like journalism, pledged $5 mil. "As a technologist, I'm impressed by the incredible speed at which artificial intelligence technologies are developing," Omidyar said on the Knight Foundation's website.