Two of the opening keynotes at the Artificial Intelligence Conference, hosted by O'Reilly Media, highlighted the corporate efforts by a couple of well-established technology companies to use artificial intelligence for social good. The SAS Institute's Mary Beth Ainsworth talked about how the analytics company is partnering with a nonprofit organization to study cheetah populations in southwest Africa by using computer vision. And Microsoft Corp.'s Jennifer Marsman talked about the company's efforts to use machine learning, the internet of things and new networking ideas to reduce world hunger. They are part of a growing collection of tech companies investing in projects that use artificial intelligence for social good. The list includes IBM and its IBM Watson AI XPrize, as well as Amazon and its "artificial intelligence for good manager."

Microsoft principal software development engineer Jennifer Marsman talked about the applications of machine learning at Microsoft's Ignite NZ conference. From teaching computers to make predictions to helping blind people "see", machine learning technology has already made incredible advancements in a short timeframe. Microsoft's Jennifer Marsman's interest is machine learning and helping to make the technology understandable to the average person. The Detroit-based principal software development engineer was in New Zealand last week for Microsoft's Ignite New Zealand conference, where she gave talks about applications of machine learning. It can be easy to let our imaginations run too wild when it comes to the future of technology, so Marsman to gave examples of machine learning's relevance in real life.

Employees across the company are creating new technology, refining existing products, enhancing business operations and developing their own machine learning expertise as applied scientists, data scientists, software engineers and program managers, says Amanda Papp, a senior machine learning and data science recruiter. "Machine learning is the DNA of Microsoft. "You can apply machine learning to search, advertising, security, gaming -- and that's just the tip of the iceberg." Many employees participate in quarterly machine learning hackathons, attend twice-yearly conferences and learn from others in the company's 4,300-member Machine Learning and Data Science community, according to Alex Blanton, a senior program manager who helps manage the community and its events. Papp says she looks for candidates who have experience with researching or applying machine learning algorithms to solve real-world problems and the "passion for making a difference on a global scale."