After years of progress towards health equity and poverty reduction, we see an extended gap between countries and communities on almost all world development measures. The development of new technologies and their application in the resource -poor parameters have been a way to fill these shortcomings. We will need concerted measures of governments, private sector, philanthropies and civil society to develop the solutions necessary to regain bases on the sustainable development objectives that we use to follow the progress.
Since its creation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has concentrated, through its partnerships and subsidies, on the application of innovation to help accelerate progress, promote human potential and treat long -standing inequalities. By working with our partners, we are continuously scanning the horizon for innovations, seeds resistant to drought to mRNA vaccines, which can have an impact on the objectives of health and development.
According to almost all estimates, the rapid progress of artificial intelligence, or AI, will make the technology of AI widely available and transformative between societies and economies, with the potential to fundamentally modify the way people communicate, work, learn and improve their well-being. In the fields where the Gates Foundation works, it is easy to imagine powerful uses of AI in everything, medical speed and the fight against impacts of climate change to the increase in learning results and the increase in agricultural production for small operators. The Foundation has invested in dozens of automatic learning applications to the use of health and development to date. More recently, the rapid development and availability of large languages models, such as Chatgpt, have fundamentally changed which can be possible using AI. Potential gains will only be carried out if technology is implemented with the beneficiaries participating in its development. The speed at which AI is developed poses a moment of opportunity and risk – their creation and application will be inclusive, reflecting the needs of low -income countries, or will they be applied inequitably and will promote the shortcomings we have seen?
Previous technological progress has offered unequal advantages in many regions of the world for various reasons, but lack of access to innovation is the main reason why people in low -resource environments often do not see the advantages in a timely, fair and coherent way. Like any new set of technologies, it is essential to approach the potential uses of AI with care and prudence, in particular from the point of view of the populations which have always been left to achieve the advantages of innovations. It is also essential to recognize the risks associated with the spread of disinformation and the potential use of information facilitated by AI. In the field of health and development, where precise and reliable information is essential, the consequences of disinformation can be particularly damaging. The intentional design and collaboration with those who benefit from it are essential to innovation with the desired impact, which we measure in the saved lives and the opportunities offered to people to reach their full potential.
The use of AI for development requires specific considerations due to the nature of the way and the creation of large languages models, as well as the perceptions that accompany them. These models are built around the analysis of large sets of data combined with algorithms and statistical models to find and use models. The marginalized communities did not have a seat at the table to light up the models, so that the statistical representations of these models can be less precise than for regions with better represented data. This makes error rates and the risk of perpetuating pre -existing biases for AI using such more likely data. There is a real risk associated with AI tools if prudence and surveillance are not exercised. If they are not properly managed, these tools can inadvertently strengthen biases, perpetuate existing inequalities and propagate disinformation. We must intentionally work to alleviate these limits.
Recognizing both the advantages and potential risks of AI and its rapid development, in March 2023, the Foundation created a global working group on AI to help serve as a coordination mechanism to define the role of AI with regard to the work of the Foundation, recognizing the many facets of our work and the evolutionary nature of this technology. The working group was created to stimulate a responsible and organized approach to explore the commitment of the Foundation with the use of AI and help map a way to follow safe, ethical and fair. In addition, the Foundation establishes an ethical consulting committee and actions drawn from external experts which will share information on the design of the program, the ethical practice of AI, will ensure responsibility within the organization and our beneficiaries, and advise how to protect themselves against prejudices and involuntary consequences.
Our concentration on access and equity is fundamental for our current and future work with AI. We understand that the introduction of AI into resource -limited contexts can present unique risks, and we undertake to mitigate them by continuous research, collaboration and open communication with stakeholders. While the Foundation engages in a work that takes advantage of the power of AI, we will be guided by a set of first principles that shape our initial and aligned approach on our main mission – to help create a world where each person has the possibility of living a healthy and productive life. These principles will be refined and adapted when we engage with partners and other external experts, as we learn according to experience and future developments in IA technology are evolving.
First principlesAdhere to our fundamental values Promote co-design and inclusiveness Make responsible for Approach confidentiality and security Build for fair access Ensure transparency |
||
These are the beginnings in the development of AI and its uses to improve human health and development. We recognize the risks inherent in AI and the need to resolve them in a responsible manner. We are also impatient to explore the opportunities to exploit this revolution to overcome the challenges that to date have been intractable. As we have done with emerging technologies and platforms such as mRNA for vaccines and therapies, genetic sequencing for the identification and monitoring of diseases, and other transformation tools, we are engaged early and to fold the curve towards equity. We will have much more to say on this subject here and on the foundation canals.