AI for Good Foundation

Background

AI for Good Foundation was founded in 2015 by artificial intelligence (AI) and social science researcher James Hodson, Hodson’s former colleague Stefano Pacifico, NYU professor Gary Marcus, and IBM researcher Michael Witbrock. ³ It’s located in Berkeley, California, and is focused on developing approaches to measure and advance progress toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). ¹

The SDGs are a set of 17 policy goals adopted by all United Nations members in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. ⁴  They include “human rights” goals of eliminating poverty and hunger, good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, and reduced inequalities, as well as environmental goals such as clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, sustainable cities and communities, and climate action. ⁵

In 2021, Forbes named AI for Good as one of the 20 leading social-impact platforms along with ClimateWorks Foundation and Global Impact Investing Network. ⁶

Programs and Projects

In 2016, AI for Good launched the Fragile Earth program and community ⁷ in collaboration with World Resources Institute, IBM, USC Center for Artificial Intelligence in Society, Cargill, and others to focus on applying data science to advance environmentalist goals. ⁸ The annual Fragile Earth Workshop is sponsored by the United States Department of Energy. ⁹

AEM publishes a library of AI content related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including progress on existing AI and machine learning initiatives, resources, and datasets. ¹⁰

The Climate Trend Scanner is a machine learning powered toolkit commissioned by the United Nations Development Program to track climate change policies globally and improve availability of information for researchers and policymakers. In 2021, it was awarded a Microsoft AI for Earth grant and was presented at COP26. ¹¹

The SDG Trend Scanner is a platform that tracks disruptive trends that impact the 17 SDGs to assist companies and researchers in developing the most impactful solutions to address specific SDGs. ¹²

In 2022, AEM developed the Economists for Ukraine program focused on ways to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and support and rebuild the country. The LifeForce project is part of the program, which matches Ukrainian needs for food, shelter, medicine, and other essentials with suppliers on a real-time basis. Many other projects in the program provide direct civilian aid, free public Wi-Fi hotspots, and non-lethal military aid to support Ukraine. ¹³

AI for Good has developed the SDG Catalyst program to accelerate the launch of startups that are working toward accelerating the SDGs. ¹⁴

Partners

AI for Good Foundation maintains corporate partnerships and sponsorships, data sharing partnerships, and academic partnerships, as well as partnerships with nonprofits, foundations, and public institutions. Partners include IBM Corporation, Amazon, Cisco Systems Foundation, the University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon University, the United Nations Development Program, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, AI for the Planet, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. ²

In 2023, AI for Good Foundation announced its partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative which is focused on climate change, Ukraine relief and reconstruction, global refugees, and women’s rights. ¹⁵

Funding

AI for Good filed a short form tax return for the 2021 tax year claiming $126,402 in revenue and $122,322 in expenses. ¹⁶ Prior to 2021 AI for Good filed annual Form 990-N e-Postcards for tax exempt organizations that report $50,000 or less in revenues. ¹⁷

Contributions to AI for Good Foundation increased dramatically to almost $1 million in 2022, ¹⁸ including  donor-advised-fund contributions of $250,000 from the National Philanthropic Trust and over $50,000 from the American Online Giving Foundation. ¹⁹

Leadership

James Hodson is one of the co-founders and the CEO of AI for Good. He has been a researcher and entrepreneur in AI throughout his career. He led AI research at left-of-center billionaire philanthropist Michael Bloomberg’s company Bloomberg LP until 2015, was a research fellow at Jozef Stefan Institute, and the chief science officer at sales intelligence platform Cognism before co-founding AI for Good Foundation. He’s active in the research community and organizes workshops and conferences and publishes papers associated with AI and machine learning. ²⁰

Michael Witbrock is one of the co-founders and the chairman of the board of directors. He has a PhD in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University.  He is a full-time professor at the University of Auckland, CEO of TransAxon, director of the NAOInstitute at the University of Auckland, advisor at AI chip design firm NovuMind, and founding principal at NZ.COM New Zealand on the Web. ²¹ TransAxon is a small research and development team working on developing brain computer interfaces. ²² The NAOInstitute does research on natural, artificial, and organization intelligence. ²³

Controversy

In 2017, co-founder James Hodson criticized physicist Stephen Hawking, Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk for expressing concerns about the risks of AI, claiming “In reality, these people know next to nothing about AI.” Later he published a clarification on his statement, indicating that he has “the utmost respect for the achievements of these men in their fields.” ³