Artificial intelligence is one of those tech terms that seems to inevitably conjure up images (and jokes) of computer overlords running sci-fi dystopias -- or, more recently, robots taking over human jobs. But AI is already here: It's powering your voice-activated digital personal assistants and Web searches, guiding automated features on your car and translating foreign texts, detecting your friends in photos you post on social media and filtering your spam. But as practical uses of AI have exploded in recent years, one critical element remains missing: an industrywide set of ethics standards or best practices to guide the growing field. Now, the industry heavyweights are partnering to fill that gap. Called the Partnership on Artificial Intelligence to Benefit People and Society, the group consists of Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and IBM. Apple is also in talks to join.

Some of the world's biggest tech companies are teaming up to address the future of artificial intelligence and how it will affect privacy, safety, interoperability and collaboration between people and AI. Amazon, Google's DeepMind division, Facebook, IBM and Microsoft have founded the Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (PAI) to consider how and why AI developments, such as online facial recognition, might be a cause for concern. "Every new technology brings transformation, and transformation sometimes also causes fear in people who don't understand the transformation. One of the purposes of this group is really to explain and communicate the capabilities of AI, specifically the dangers and the basic ethical questions," said Yann LeCun, Facebook's director of AI. LeCun advises that the group will foster communication among those who build AI, bring in additional opinions from academia and civil society and inform the public on the progress of AI.

The Terminator isn't arriving anytime soon, but concern is growing that artificial intelligence is already so pervasive in society--and getting more so all the time--that there needs to be more focus on how it's being used and potentially misused (even if by accident). Aside from futuristic killer robots, there are already real dangers ranging from faulty autonomous cars to algorithms used in hiring or recruiting that have an inadvertent bias against women or ethnic groups. The giants of artificial intelligence, especially as it affects consumers and businesses, have just joined together to form a nonprofit called the Partnership on AI, with founding members Amazon, DeepMind/Google, Facebook, IBM, and Microsoft. It's the latest effort to keep a collective eye on how AI is developed and used.OpenAI, founded in December 2015, has a similar goal of conducing research and conferences to promote responsible use of AI. "This partnership will provide consumer and industrial users of cognitive systems a vital voice in the advancement of the defining technology of this century," reads part of a statement from IBM's AI ethics researcher, Francesca Rossi. The Partnership on AI announcementlays out an ambitious agenda for research to be conducted or funded by members, in partnership with academics, user group advocates, and industry experts.

With any luck we won't be seeing killer AI machines in the future. Image Credit: CC BY 2.0 Stephen Bowler Several major technology companies have joined forces in an effort to prevent an AI-fuelled apocalypse. Some of the world's most prominent scientists and technology entrepreneurs, including Professor Stephen Hawking and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, have repeatedly warned in recent years of the dangers we might face should rogue intelligent machines ever manage to take hold. Now with computers becoming increasingly sophisticated and with several major firms including Google working on AI technology, a new partnership has been arranged in an effort to avoid any future disasters and to ensure that AI research remains safe and beneficial to mankind. So far the group consists of Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and IBM however it is likely that others, including Apple, will also be joining in the not-too-distant future.

The Terminator isn't arriving anytime soon, but concern is growing that artificial intelligence is already so pervasive in society--and getting more so all the time--that there needs to be more focus on how it's being used and potentially misused (even if by accident). Aside from futuristic killer robots, there are already real dangers ranging from faulty autonomous cars to algorithms used in hiring or recruiting that have an inadvertent bias against women or ethnic groups. The giants of artificial intelligence, especially as it affects consumers and businesses, have just joined together to form a nonprofit called the Partnership on AI, with founding members Amazon, DeepMind/Google, Facebook, IBM, and Microsoft. It's the latest effort to keep a collective eye on how AI is developed and used. OpenAI, founded in December 2015, has a similar goal of conducing research and conferences to promote responsible use of AI.

Artificial intelligence is one of those tech terms that seems to inevitably conjure up images (and jokes) of computer overlords running sci-fi dystopias -- or, more recently, robots taking over human jobs. But AI is already here: It's powering your voice-activated digital personal assistants and Web searches, guiding automated features on your car and translating foreign texts, detecting your friends in photos you post on social media and filtering your spam. But as practical uses of AI have exploded in recent years, one critical element remains missing: an industrywide set of ethics standards or best practices to guide the growing field. Now, the industry heavyweights are partnering to fill that gap. Called the Partnership on Artificial Intelligence to Benefit People and Society, the group consists of Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and IBM. Apple is also in talks to join.

Let's face it: artificial intelligence is scary. After decades of dystopian science fiction novels and movies where sentient machines end up turning on humanity, we can't help but worry as real world AI continues to improve at such a rapid rate. Sure, that danger is probably decades away if it's even a real danger at all. But there are many more immediate concerns. Will automated robots cost us jobs?

Contrary to fictional portrayals of humans being herded like animals by Artificially Intelligent (AI) machines, realistic concerns about artificial intelligence are far more benign. Still they are no less important and conversations have to begin looking at perhaps setting some ground rules. That's why the big players are stepping up. Researchers and scientists from large tech companies Google, Amazon, Microsoft, IBM, and Facebook have been meeting and discussing the future implications of AI for humans. While no hard details on the group's policies, objectives, or even it's name have come out, insiders have stated the group's intentions: to ensure that A.I. research is focused on benefiting people, not hurting them.

In-brief: Alphabet, IBM, Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon are teaming to pioneer ethical guidelines for artificial intelligence, the New York Times reported. The New York Times is reporting on a new cross-industry effort by some of the U.S.'s leading technology firms to pioneer standards of ethics in the arena of artificial intelligence (AI). According to the report, researchers at Google's parent company, Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook, IBM and Microsoft have been meeting to discuss the impact of artificial intelligence on jobs, transportation and "even warfare." The specifics of what the industry group will do or say -- even its name -- have yet to be hashed out. But the basic intention is clear: to ensure that A.I. research is focused on benefiting people, not hurting them, according to four people involved in the creation of the industry partnership who are not authorized to speak about it publicly.