Revolutionizing AI: IBM & Meta lead AI Alliance with global tech leaders

In a groundbreaking collaboration, IBM and Meta have unveiled the AI Alliance, a robust consortium with over 50 members, including academic powerhouses like Yale and Cornell Universities.

With a primary focus on reshaping AI education, the Alliance aims to revolutionize how AI is taught and learned globally. Emphasizing transparency and safety, the initiative seeks to empower students, educators, and researchers while addressing ethical considerations. Key objectives include fostering global AI skills, advancing open foundation models, and developing educational resources. The involvement of prestigious institutions signals a collective effort to redefine the integration of AI in educational settings.

The initiative stresses the importance of open and transparent innovation in AI, especially in academic environments, to empower students, educators, and researchers with tools and information that prioritize safety, diversity, economic opportunity, and societal benefits.

Educational Focus of the AI Alliance

1. Fostering Global AI Skills and Research: A central objective of the Alliance is engaging the academic community to support AI research and skill development. This includes curriculum development, teacher training, and providing students with hands-on experience in AI technologies.
2. Advancing Open Foundation Models: The Alliance promotes diverse, multilingual, multimodal, and science-based AI models to address educational challenges, making learning more accessible and personalized.
3. Developing Educational Resources and Policies: The Alliance is committed to creating resources to inform educators, students, and policymakers about AI’s benefits, risks, and ethical considerations in an educational context.
4. Fostering Global AI Skills and Research: Engaging academic communities to support AI research and skill development.
5. Educational and Policy Initiatives: Collaborative Educational Programs: Initiatives include hosting workshops, seminars, and events focused on AI’s role in education, encouraging a dialogue between technologists and educators and developing resources to inform public discourse and guide policymakers on AI’s benefits, risks, and regulations.

The Alliance Composition in Education

The AI Alliance boasts a diverse range of educational institutions and organizations. These include universities involved in cutting-edge AI research and development, educational framework champions, and creators of AI tools specifically designed for educational purposes.

Collaborators and Partners in Education

Central to the AI Alliance are educational collaborators such as Yale University, Cornell University, and other academic entities. Their involvement marks a significant unification of efforts across the educational and technological sectors, aiming to redefine how AI is integrated into educational systems.

Operational Framework with an Educational Lens

The Alliance plans to initiate activities with working groups focusing on educational aspects of AI. These groups will address curriculum development, ethical AI education, and the integration of AI in classroom settings. A governing board and technical oversight committee will advance these educational project areas and set standards for AI in education.

Leaders from academic institutions within the Alliance have expressed their commitment to ethical, responsible AI development in education and the significant role the Alliance will play in enhancing AI literacy and skills among students and educators.

Key figures have expressed their views on the Alliance:

• Arvind Krishna (IBM) emphasizes the role of open innovation in AI’s progress.
• Nick Clegg (Meta) highlights the benefits of open AI development for broader access and safety.
• Lisa Su (AMD) underscores the importance of open, standards-based development for industry advancement.

Other leaders from A*STAR, Aitomatic, Anyscale, Boston University, Cerebras Systems, and the Cleveland Clinic have shared their commitment to ethical, responsible AI development and the significant role the Alliance will play in this journey​​.

The AI Alliance, led by IBM and Meta, represents a pivotal step in shaping a responsible, inclusive, and innovative future for AI, with a strong emphasis on educational advancements and the collective expertise of the global academic community.