By Karl Redenbach, Chief Executive Officer & Co-founder
The AI4Good global platform brings many diverse stakeholders together from civil society and NGOs, international organisations and policy makers, academia and research, industry and business, innovation and the arts. Everyone is sharing ideas, innovating and collaborating to build an AI future that is positive for people and society and at LiveTiles we are proud to play our part. From my perspective as the CEO of a global software company, I want to see a common ground where companies such as ours can sign up to an AI for Good charter that ensures this revolutionising technology is deployed to enhance the human and work experience in a way that is open, equitable and accessible.
Why are we involved and supporting AI4Good? Firstly, by design, the AI4Good Global Summit and its various initiatives are not a walled garden, they are inclusive and work to promote collaboration and transparency. Secondly, it is an international forum which opens the discussion to include diverse and essential voices from all over the world so that AI’s future can represent and benefit everyone. And thirdly, it is a dialog, an exchange of ideas and knowledge which is fundamental to international cooperation, innovation, and sustainable development. From dialog comes understanding. And AI and the problems it addresses need to be properly understood and discussed if AI is to realize its incredible potential and bring solutions that create positive change.
AI is central to realizing our vision for the future of work at LiveTiles, where we strive to revolutionize how people and technology interact. SDG8, to promote decent work and economic growth, is the foundation upon which we consider the future of work, ensuring that AI is supporting, not replacing humans, freeing employees up from monotonous and repetitive work and channelling people’s time and creativity into greater collaboration and innovation.
This has many related impacts, including contributing more positively to wellbeing in the workplace (SDG3 Good Health and Wellbeing), a critical issue, especially during these turbulent and uncertain times. I also see AI as a central catalyst for greater gender equality in the workplace, and specifically in my sector, tech, where women are woefully under-represented. We can deploy AI for better, fairer recruitment, real wage parity, and more effective and equitable practices of empowerment. This is not just a nice-to-have, for us this is essential if our future technologies, and the value they generate, are to be truly inclusive and beneficial for all.
AI is at a pivotal moment for all of us. It’s another major milestone in the ever-evolving industrial revolution, representing incredible opportunities for innovation, employment and growth. But it is unique because we have never known a moment in history where we can build such a powerful technology while it is still in its infancy. This is what I find really exciting, and a bit daunting too. But, with multi-stakeholder collaboration and dialogue such as we have at AI for Good, we are on the right path to ensuring that AI is a technology for real and positive social impact.
Important challenges lie ahead however, and I believe these are often more related to policy than technology. To realize the opportunities already discussed, to truly achieve these, we need a global AI framework that is open and transparent, and one which promotes accountability. This represents the most immediate challenge in my view – not the technology itself, but how we regulate and ‘manage’ it. To get to a point in the future where we can enable everyone to benefit from AI-powered solutions, no matter who they are or where they live, harnessing AI for common purpose and for good. That’s why we are proud to be involved with the UN’s ‘AI for Good’ community. We want to play our part in shaping a positive future. Now is the time.
