Global summit generates 35 proposals using power of AI for Good

Thirty-five innovative project proposals leveraging the power of artificial intelligence (AI) for good were generated at the 2nd AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva at the headquarters of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technology (ICT).

The pioneering proposals were conceived at the summit by expert breakthrough teams to address: expanded and improved health care; enhanced monitoring of agriculture and biodiversity using satellite imagery; smart urban development; and trust in AI.

“Leveraging the power of ICTs, including artificial intelligence, is imperative if we are to improve the livelihoods of all people, everywhere, through achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals,” said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao.

The AI for Good community at the summit discussed the merits of sharing AI tools and resources, datasets, and supporting knowledge and expertise – a vision the summit’s participants conceptualized as “AI and Data Commons”. This responds to growing recognition among stakeholders that shared resources could spur new AI for Good projects, enable significant scale, and create incentives to return new and improved resources to the AI for Good community.

This year’s event was organized by ITU in partnership with 32 sister United Nations agencies, the XPRIZE Foundation and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).

“We’re pleased that XPRIZE was able to help spark the crowd to focus on action, with collaborative efforts between public, private, governmental, research, financial and United Nations organizations focused on developing solutions that use AI for humanitarian benefit and can be realized this year and next,” said Anousheh Ansari, member and chair of management, XPRIZE Board of Directors.

Pioneering AI-driven project proposals generated at AI for Good Summit are: Monitoring agriculture and biodiversity using satellite imagery; AI-improved healthcare; smart urban development; and Trust in AI.