Foundation joins global leaders at Davos to shape future of AI leadership

Categories: Announcements , Emergent AI + Society

BOSTON, Jan. 27, 2021 – Patrick J. McGovern Foundation President Vilas Dhar will present a vision for the future of responsible AI leadership and announce the Foundation’s 2021 AI and data commitments at the World Economic Forum’s annual Davos meeting. 

The Jan. 28 session also includes IBM Chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna, UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore, and I AM+ Founder and CEO will.i.am. The session will be moderated by WEF’s Kay Firth Butterfield, head of AI and machine learning. As part of the conversation, the group will announce a new global initiative to accelerate the benefits of AI.

The Foundation, among the world’s largest uniquely dedicated to advancing data science and AI for good, is focused on ensuring AI is ethically designed and applied to benefit all. In 2020, the Foundation invested more than $20 million to support data science and AI initiatives that address climate change, health equity and pandemic response efforts. In 2021, the Foundation will accelerate its commitments to ensuring data science and AI benefit humanity.

“We have a choice to make about the direction that AI takes – and we have to make it now,” said Dhar. “Will it be a future where AI control remains in the hands of a few to benefit the elite? Or a future where we all participate in the co-design of AI that solves our greatest global challenges and makes our individual lives better? Responsible AI leadership requires refocusing – away from building AI product and towards building an equitable, just society.”

The panel is open to the public and no registration is required. To join the session, click the button below.