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Stanford Unveils New AI Institute, Built To Create 'A Better Future For All Humanity' (mercurynews.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Mercury News: Amid a worldwide race for supremacy in artificial intelligence, Stanford University on Monday will unveil a new institute dedicated to using AI to build the best-possible future (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source). The Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence is co-directed by Fei-Fei Li, a former chief scientist for AI at Google, now a Stanford computer science professor. The institute will take advantage of Stanford's strength in a variety of disciplines, including AI, computer science, engineering, robotics, business, economics, genomics, law, literature, medicine, neuroscience and philosophy, according to promotional materials. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is scheduled to deliver the keynote speech at Monday's official launch.

Stanford's AI institute will work in partnership with a number of other university facilities and initiatives, including the Center on AI Safety, the Center for Ethics in Society, the Center for International Security and Cooperation, and the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, plus AI4ALL, which aims to boost diversity in AI fields. The 78 faculty members assigned to the institute reflect the diversity of fields the university intends to cover in its research and teaching, coming from disciplines including computer science, medicine, law, business, economics, environmental science, linguistics, political science and philosophy. Although the institute highlights the importance of AI being "broadly representative of humanity" across gender, ethnicity, nationality, culture and age, its faculty also reflect the gender gap in technology -- only 18 percent are women. About three quarters of the faculty are white. Courses will include "The Politics of Algorithms," "Theoretical Neuroscience," "AI-assisted Health Care" and "Regulating Artificial Intelligence."

4 of 67 comments (clear)

  1. Worldwide race for supremacy? What a joke. by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 2

    In the beginning, there was man. And for a time, it was good. But humanity's so-called civil societies soon fell victim to vanity and corruption. Then man made the machine in his own likeness. Thus did man become the architect of his own demise.

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  2. No if I can just get mom and dad... by mark_reh · · Score: 2

    to pony up enough cash to get me on the Stanford Water Polo team...

  3. Better future for all humanity! by mark_reh · · Score: 2

    Imagine a world where everyone was so focused on their day to day survival that no one had the means to rise above that struggle and look at the big picture and steer us toward a brighter future. I thank God that those generous, wealthy people, who do what they do because they care about the rest of us, exist. What would we do without them?

    It's lucky for the rest of us that the visionaries who run the best schools understand the need to have the best and brightest lead us out of our darkness, and have structured programs to fast track those people into positions of power and authority over us.

  4. Future Slashdot Headline by Kunedog · · Score: 2

    2046: "Standford-built GodPlex AI Mulls Removal of 'Dislike' Function from Human Minds"