2020 AI for Good Global Summit opens in March

LEADERS in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and humanitarian action will convene at the 2020 AI for Good Global Summit with strong intent to ensure that ‘AI for Good’ solutions achieve a scale matching that of the ambitions captured by the SDGs.

The AI for Good Global Summit is the leading United Nations platform for inclusive dialogue on AI. The summit identifies practical applications of AI to accelerate progress towards the SDGs and builds collaboration to assist these applications in achieving global impact.

Now in its fourth edition, the 2020 AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, 4-8 May 2020, will continue to connect AI innovators with public and private-sector decision-makers in the interests of stimulating the discovery and delivery of ‘AI for Good’ solutions for all.

The 2020 summit is co-organised by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the United Nations specialised agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the XPRIZE Foundation, in partnership with Switzerland, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and a wide variety of sister United Nations agencies.

The 2017 summit marked the beginning of a global dialogue on the potential of AI to act as a force for good. The action-oriented 2018 and 2019 summits gave rise to numerous ‘AI for Good’ projects including an ‘AI for Health’ Focus Group led by ITU and the World Health Organisation, an ITU Focus Group on ‘AI for Autonomous and Assisted Driving, and an open framework for collaboration in AI Commons.

The pursuit of global impact will be the defining feature of the 2020 summit.

“Three editions of the AI for Good Global Summit have recognised the significance of the leap from AI promise to global impact. We see renewed resolve within the AI for Good community to create the conditions necessary to make this leap and accelerate progress towards the achievement of the SDGs,” said ITU Secretary-General, Mr Houlin Zhao.

“With only 10 years remaining to achieve the United Nations SDGs, AI is sure to be an invaluable technology to accomplish these critical goals that are designed to ensure a more sustainable and equitable future for all,” said XPRIZE boss, Mr Anousheh Ansari.

“At XPRIZE, our mission is to facilitate radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity, and our ongoing collaboration on the AI for Good Global Summit is one way we hope to accelerate safe and ethical development of AI and machine learning technology,” he added.

The summit attracts a unique cross-section of AI experts from industry and academia, global business leaders, Heads of UN agencies, ICT ministers, non-governmental organisations, civil society and artists.

The summit is designed to generate ‘AI for Good’ projects able to be enacted in the near term, guided by the summit’s multi-stakeholder and inter-disciplinary audience. It also aims to ensure trusted, safe and inclusive development of AI technologies and equitable access to their benefits.

The 2020 summit will generate AI breakthroughs in climate and environmental action, the elimination of hunger, gender equality, healthcare, smart and safe mobility, the preservation of cultural heritage and the protection of access to trustworthy information. An ‘AI Innovation Factory’ will showcase new ‘AI for Good’ ideas, crowd-sourced AI challenges and promising AI startups. A ‘partner day’ will offer potential AI adopters an audience with leading AI experts and educators.