AI Ethics Council

Digital pioneer Sam Altman, CEO and Co-founder of OpenAI, shares concerns about bias and discrimination in artificial intelligence (AI), yet also believes AI will overwhelmingly and positively impact society and that AI will create new economic opportunities for people of color and other underserved communities. OpenAI was founded with a mission to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity. To this end, Altman embarked upon an international listening tour of sorts. Following the tour, Altman accepted an invitation from the White House to meet for a roundtable discussion on AI ethics. This meeting sparked a dialogue between Altman and entrepreneur and thought leader John Hope Bryant, Founder, Chair and CEO of Operation HOPE. Soon after, Bryant partnered with Altman on his very first tour stop – befittingly, Clark Atlanta University, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in Atlanta, Georgia, the cradle of the Civil Rights Movement. The two-day meetings included international and community leaders, leaders in higher education and students alike, all of whom shared ideas, concerns, and hopes regarding AI's development and potential use cases. Emerging out of these meetings, Altman returned to Atlanta for the HOPE Global Forum Annual Meeting on December 11, 2023, where he and Bryant jointly announced the creation of a new Artificial Intelligence Ethics Council (AI Ethics Council ®/ AIEC®), designed to think through, consider, and advise on issues related to human dignity, equity and inclusion, and the hope for shared opportunities and principles for AI's future.

The AI Ethics Council® (AIEC®) is an interdisciplinary body of diverse experts with the aim to become a leading authority in 1) identifying , 2) advising on and 3) addressing ethical issues related to artificial intelligence and its impact on underserved and historically excluded communities.

The AIEC® will form a committee framework, with sub-committees and working groups, through which members will help guide ethical principles for AI through discourse for modeling and amplification. The Council is focused on the intersection of technology and humanity for positive, ethical, and transformative impact generally in the areas of economic opportunity for all, finance, education, policy, employment, accessibility, health and healthcare, and sustainability.

The Council will initially focus on ethics in artificial intelligence in the following eight (8) categories: Business & Entrepreneurship; Communication & Social Media; Community; Faith & Civil Society; Fraud, Risk & Misrepresentation; Financial Inclusion / Future Prosperity for All; Financial Services / Consumer Finance; Education / Educational Operability; Policy / Regulation / Governance; Employment / Career Preparedness / Job Skills; Universal Accessibility; Health & Healthcare; Climate Change / Environment / Sustainability.

The AIEC® will undertake a staged approach to the mission, pursuing impact by leveraging enhanced public visibility and influence, deep tech sector expertise, policy-focused advocacy, partnerships, program development, and active engagement with tech, business, community, government, and other stakeholders.