What could we achieve if we put the same effort to solve problems that actually matter?

Making A Difference

The impasse is clear - we already have the technology and skillsets at our collective disposal; how can we apply them in an impactful way? This was the impetus for last month’s second annual AI for Good Summit in Geneva.

In 3 days, 400+ delegates with representatives from 32 UN agencies, policymakers, AI practitioners, researchers, industry representatives and domain experts from over 60 countries - worked together to identify practical strategies and projects to ensure trusted, safe, and inclusive development of AI technologies and equitable access on a global scale.

Particular emphasis was devoted to health, smart cities, satellites and trust in AI. Showcase projects included the use of satellite data to support micro-insurance programs for small-hold farmers in Africa; the leveraging of AI research to help detect and evaluate pressing health issues in developing countries like vision loss, osteoarthritis, and malnutrition; and the creation of platforms to facilitate communication and collaboration among experts and stakeholders worldwide.

Enter Data Commons

To help AI for Good projects achieve significance and scale, while enabling stakeholders to share resources, Ocean Protocol Co-Founder Trent McConaghy presented how Ocean Protocol has been working towards developing a Data Commons — where free, public and government data can be globally accessed, to reduce the entry barriers for anyone to work with AI.

Data Commons will provide the technical framework for the collection, cleaning, labelling, and use of AI tools & datasets. It will serve as a platform where local, national, or international open data initiatives can be shared and integrated, in turn allowing researchers, civic coders, and others from around the world to access data, find projects, discuss ideas, and contribute solutions.

In essence, Data Commons will not only help democratize AI for good, but also will facilitate collaboration between problem owners and problem solvers in the following ways:

Using AI to help solve problems which are not currently addressed

Identifying core problems and making them visible to AI practitioners

Facilitating collaboration between problem owners and AI practitioners

Providing a safe environment to help evaluate feasibility of AI solutions

Helping transition pilot programmes to global services

Ocean Protocol’s Data Commons will help problem owners and problem solvers collaborate more effectively.

Data Commons will be fully decentralized, meaning that no single entity owns or controls the framework. Data can be either free or priced to reconcile data commons & data marketplaces. There will be a variety of data available including raw training data (structured and unstructured), cleansed data, data models, etc. Built-in curation will be a core element of the commons — high-quality datasets will bubble up and system rewards will be baked in to incentivize stakeholders to share data.

Although Data Commons is still in early stages of creation, we are well on our way to fostering an environment in which AI solutions are developed and put together directly with the people who own the problems - as well as solving some of the legal problems that inevitably come up during hands-on work in the field. Data Commons will make it easier for solutions to get out into the world and to start actually solving pressing problems right away.

Further details of the AI and Data Commons approach on Ocean Protocol will be announced in the coming months. Our goal is to have a working solution that key stakeholders can immediately use, for existing and planned projects, with a show-and-tell of the progress at the next AI for Good Summit in 2019.