Don't worry guys, Skynet is going to be born and we're not going to be slaves to the machines... if the founders of LinkedIn and eBay have anything to do with it, that is.
Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn's founder and the Omidyar network - a philanthropic investment firm set up by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, are both donating $10 million towards the Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence Fund. The $20 million investment will be used by researchers to handle the ethical problems that will stirred up by AI.
Hoffman said: "There's an urgency to ensure that AI benefits society and minimises harm. AI decision-making can influence many aspects of our world - education, transportation, healthcare, criminal justice and the economy - yet data and code behind those decisions can be largely invisible".
What exact research areas will be played around in, we don't know yet - but they will include ethical design with questions like "how do we build and design technologies that consider ethical frameworks and moral values as central features of technological innovation?" and accountability of AI, reports The Guardian, with other questions like "what kinds of controls do we need to minimise AI's potential harm to society and maximise its benefits?"
There's more funding being thrown into the mix, with The Knight Foundation contributing $5 million, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Raptor Group founder Jim Pallotta are both giving $1 million each.