With the rapid development of artificial intelligence poised to impact society more quickly and broadly than ever, Dartmouth has joined more than 50 other leaders in industry, government, research, and higher education as a founding member of the newly formed AI Alliance.
In an announcement Tuesday, the group—led by IBM and Meta—said the global alliance is “focused on fostering an open community and enabling developers and researchers to accelerate responsible innovation in AI while ensuring scientific rigor, trust, safety, security, diversity, and economic competitiveness.”
Goals include developing more options for AI technology in the open market that have been vetted for bias and developed responsibly. These technologies could then be adopted and used by a variety of companies in ways that improve the way we work and live.
Joining the alliance deepens Dartmouth’s commitment to the ethical development of artificial intelligence and open science as well as to forming strategic partnerships that will translate research and discoveries at Dartmouth into impact on a global scale.
“Dartmouth, where ‘artificial intelligence’ was first envisioned in 1956, is excited to be part of this alliance and committed to ensuring AI is transparent, trustworthy, and serves all humanity going forward,” said Provost David Kotz ’86, the Pat and John Rosenwald Professor in the Department of Computer Science.
Dartmouth researchers are continuing the institution’s legacy as the birthplace of AI to study and deploy AI technology across a spectrum of areas. The Center for Precision Health and Artificial Intelligence, launched this year, is unique among its peers in fostering collaboration between AI scientists and physicians to individualize treatment using patients’ unique biomedical data while also identifying strategies for safely and ethically deploying AI in health care.
Faculty also are applying AI to digital health therapeutics and diagnosis, medical education, and policy enforcement, as well as working to eliminate bias in large language models and even using AI to understand the extinction of the dinosaurs.
The AI Alliance will begin its work by forming working groups, choosing a governing board and technical oversight committee, and establishing project standards and guidelines. Members will partner on projects in AI development, events, and initiatives.
“The progress we continue to witness in AI is a testament to open innovation and collaboration across communities of creators, scientists, academic, and business leaders. This is a pivotal moment in defining the future of AI,” IBM Chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna said in announcing the alliance. “IBM is proud to partner with like-minded organizations through the AI Alliance to ensure this open ecosystem drives an innovative AI agenda underpinned by safety, accountability, and scientific rigor.”
Dartmouth is one of four Ivy League universities and more than a dozen schools in total to be founding members of the AI Alliance.