Creating A Better World: Humans And Artificial Intelligence

Sometimes it's easy to forget that humanity is the most important element of artificial intelligence (AI). AI is created by humans to solve human problems and to do so by emulating our own abilities to think, learn, and improve.

A new Microsoft initiative aimed at broadening the understanding – and assuaging the fear – of AI has been developed with this important fact in mind. Through a new series called Humans and AI, the tech giant wants to draw attention to the people whose dreams, innovation, and determination are driving positive change and helping others.  

As they put it, “Humans and AI is our way of honoring passionate people from all walks of life who are using AI to transform our society and our world for the better. There are stories of hope and human empowerment.”

One of those highlighted for recognition is Hadas Bitran, Head of Microsoft Healthcare Israel, who developed a COVID-19 symptom checker that helped ease the workload for frontline healthcare workers and worked on developing a bot that allows COVID-19 survivors to self-screen to see if their plasma can be donated to help treat virus patients. While another is Dr. Greg Bowman, who works on the Folding@home initiative and has helped create the biggest supercomputer in the world with his army of millions of volunteers who donate computer time to run COVID-19 protein-simulations and use AI to discover meaningful movements in the protein that will help researchers discover new treatments for COVID-19.

They are joined by Alice Piterova, director of AI for Good UK, who has applied AI to model the spread of the virus within high population-density areas – specifically refugee camps, like the Moria Camp in Greece – and Kelvin Summogum, founder of MiiCare, who is using AI to learn about the behavior patterns of the elderly to help them live at home independently and safely.

The series documents the human stories behind these potentially world-changing breakthroughs – for example, Kelvin was driven to tackle his personal challenge by the death of his grandmother, who suffered a fall while she was home alone. People-power and ingenuity are at the forefront of every one of these fascinating stories.

What I like about these inspiring stories of real and ordinary people using AI to make a difference is that it makes the topic more accessible and helps everyone understand that it is a toolset that can help all of us achieve our goals and dreams. This is important because the power of AI to improve our lives is severely handicapped if the wider public – those who are yet to see or feel its impact first-hand – don’t understand it or don’t trust it.

That isn’t to say that sensible and thoughtful people shouldn’t be raising concerns about AI. There are important questions that need to be addressed around how data used to make AI predictions is collected and used, as well as the algorithmic processes that are being used to make decisions that can possibly affect people’s lives. 

But by putting a human face to AI, the hope is that we can become more confident about asking those questions, knowing that the work behind the scenes is being carried out by people who eat, sleep, and dream just like we all do.

To kick things off, I’ll be hosting a session on LinkedIn Live, where I'll be joined by the four talented and motivated individuals mentioned above – the first four of Microsoft's "Humans and AI." You can join me to talk to them at 8.15 am PT (11:15 am ET, 4:15 pm BST) on September 15.

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Immediately following that, I’ll be taking part in a Twitter chat, also with Hadas, Kelvin, Alice, and Greg, starting from 9 am PT (12:00 pm ET, 5:00 pm BST), that you'll find by searching the hashtags #microsoftAI or #humansandAI. Tag your tweets with the same hashtags to ask questions or join the conversation.

It should be a fascinating opportunity to learn from some of the brightest minds leading the quest to develop technology with intelligence, learning ability, and – most importantly of all – humanity.

Thank you for reading my post. Here at LinkedIn and at Forbes I regularly write about management and technology trends. I have also written a new book about AI, click here for more information. To read my future posts simply join my network here or click 'Follow'. Also feel free to connect with me via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Slideshare or YouTube.



Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling author, popular keynote speaker, futurist, and a strategic business & technology advisor to governments and companies. He helps organisations improve their business performance, use data more intelligently, and understand the implications of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, blockchains, and the Internet of Things.

LinkedIn has ranked Bernard as one of the world’s top 5 business influencers. He is a frequent contributor to the World Economic Forum and writes a regular column for Forbes. Every day Bernard actively engages his 1.5 million social media followers and shares content that reaches millions of readers.