Operation HOPE And OpenAI Launch An AI Ethics Council
Operation HOPE and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have launched an AI Ethics Council to help ensure marginalized poplations and people of color are included in the AI developments.
The announcement comes amid criticisms of OpenAI, Meta, and other major players in the AI space lacking diversity on their boards and decision-making bodies.
A Historic Partnership
According to a press release, OpenAI’s partnership with Operation HOPE, a leading nonprofit dedcated to financial literacy for underserved communities, began with a listening tour at Clark Atlanta University in spring 2024.
During this tour, Altman and Operation HOPE CEO John Hope Bryant identified shared concerns about AI bias and discrimination. Still they recognized AI’s potential to positively impact lives and create new economic opportunities for people of color.
The council is described as an interdisciplinary body of diverse experts to become a leading authority in identifying, advising on, and addressing ethical issues related to AI. It will also focus on AI’s impact on underserved and historically excluded communities.
Additionally, the council will aim to use the expertise of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and civil rights leaders to ensure inclusivity during this technological revolution.
Expanding AI’s Positive Impact
The council’s formation coincides with OpenAI’s decision to award its first-ever grant to a community-based organization.
Operation HOPE received $500,000 to integrate AI into its financial coaching and support services.
This grant was announced at the HOPE Global Forums in December 2023, where Bryant and Altman introduced the AI Ethics Council.
The council’s website will promote transparency and educate the public about AI, according to the press release.
“I see this website as our first stake in the ground. Its substance will grow, expand, and deepen over time. Transparency will be a hallmark. I encourage all citizens, here and abroad, to get informed and educated around what AI really is and isn’t,” said Bryant.
“As a council, we aim to focus our attention on the needle we can help move: expanding inclusive opportunity around our shared future, for everyone, as it relates to AI.”
Feature Image Credit: Bita Honarvar for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution