'Partnership on AI' tech alliance will tackle thorny research issues

A tech alliance composed of Google, Microsoft, Facebook, IBM, and Amazon has formed 'Partnership on AI,' a collective effort 'to study and formulate best practices on AI technologies, to advance the public's understanding of AI, and to serve as an open platform for discussion and engagement about AI and its influences on people and society.' The team states big goals for the partnership, not the least of which is helping the general public understand artificial intelligence and addressing concerns they may have about it.

The Partnership on AI ultimately states its goal as being the benefit of both people and society as a whole, with the alliance working to support efforts toward that goal. The group will collectively conduct research related to artificial intelligence, as well as sharing insights that it learns, consulting with other groups when applicable, and answering questions for both the media and the public, among other things.

As far as the group's mission is concerned, Partnership on AI will regularly engage with various experts spanning a bunch of disciplines, which it says will include sociology, philosophy, psychology, economics, public policy, law, and finance, to name a handful. These experts will help talk over various issues and offer their own guidance in their related fields.

The collective will also help support third-party research, and it'll deal with representatives from the various industries that will be impacted — and hopefully improved — by the advent of AI. You can view the alliance's full list of tenets here.

Concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence on society are not without merit, and many have called in recent years for greater efforts in exploring these issues, as well as establishing early rules regarding AI usage. We've already seen some AI-centric research organizations form, including OpenAI, which has Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Jessica Livingston, and Reid Hoffman onboard.