The World Economic Forum (WEF) is launching the Global AI Action Alliance (GAIA) initiative to accelerate the adoption of “inclusive, transparent and trusted” artificial intelligence (AI).

It brings together over 100 companies, governments, international organisations, non-profits and academics.

Recent controversies

In a statement, WEF said that recent controversies on facial recognition, automated decision-making and Covid-19 tracking have shown that realising AI’s potential requires strong buy-in from citizens and governments, based on their trust that AI is being built and used ethically.

WEF reports that 175 organisations have proposed ethical AI principles and, while this growth in AI principles is welcome, it has created fragmentation. It said further effort is required to translate these principles into practical tools for organisations to ensure AI’s positive future.

The GAIA is a new, multi-stakeholder collaboration platform designed to accelerate the development and adoption of such tools globally and in industry sectors.

“AI holds the potential to deliver enormous benefits to society, but only if it is used responsibly. We are launching the Global AI Action Alliance along with our partners to shape a positive, human-centred future for AI at this decisive moment in its development,” said Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum.

“AI holds the potential to deliver enormous benefits to society, but only if it is used responsibly”

Members of the alliance will work together to identify and implement the most promising tools and practices for ensuring that AI systems are ethical and serve all society members, including groups historically under-represented in the AI ecosystem.

Supported by a grant from the Patrick J McGovern Foundation, the alliance provides a community for real-time learning and rapid scaling of proven approaches to ethical AI, as well as a forum to accelerate collective action on emerging challenges and issues.

Initial areas of focus include:

• educating government and industry leaders on AI risks, opportunities and best practices
• fostering international peer learning between legislators focused on AI
• driving responsible product design and use within AI-driven organisations
• developing a certification mark for responsible AI systems
• identifying and reducing bias in AI systems
• increasing inclusion in the AI ecosystem and expanding AI’s benefit to underserved groups
• unlocking access to justice through the application of AI in judicial systems
• leveraging AI to accelerate the Sustainable Development Goals
• preparing citizens for the AI future and empowering them to help shape it.

The alliance was announced at the Davos Agenda, which took place online last week and was dedicated to helping leaders choose innovative and bold solutions to stem the pandemic and drive a robust recovery over the next year. Heads of state, CEOs, civil society leaders, and global media participated in almost 100 sessions across five themes.

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