MacArthur announced aligned grantmaking to support Humanity AI, a national initiative to build a more human(e) future in which artificial intelligence (AI) is shaped by and for people.
MacArthur today announced $10 million in aligned grantmaking in support of Humanity AI, a national initiative to build a more human(e) future in which artificial intelligence (AI) is shaped by and for people.
Humanity AI was launched by a coalition of funders supporting the arts, labor and work, democracy, education, and security that will drive more than $500 million in new investments over the next five years.
“We, as humans, stand at the cusp of AI’s broader societal integration. We are AI’s designers, users, investors, and inventors, and we can also be its governors. We have a unique opportunity to design systems with robust ethical frameworks and guardrails,” said MacArthur Foundation President John Palfrey. “It is essential that philanthropy resource organizations to help shape AI governance, inform public thinking, and innovate how these digital technologies are built and used.”
Focus Areas
The initial grants are aligned with one or more of Humanity AI’s areas of focus:
- Democracy: Creating new partnerships and frameworks for AI to advance our democracy and safeguard our freedoms.
- Education: Shaping AI in education around the best interests of students and communities to expand access to knowledge and strengthen how people learn.
- Humanities and Culture: Enhancing human creativity and protecting the work of artists and creators.
- Labor and Economy: Ensuring AI is used to enhance – rather than replace – how people work to create an economy that enables all of us to thrive.
- Security: Holding people and institutions building and deploying AI to the highest standards to keep people safe and secure.
In addition to these issue areas, Humanity AI will advance knowledge and build infrastructure to enable AI in the public interest. The initiative is also designed to shape public conversations about AI that center people and the planet, instead of technology, ensuring the public and policymakers understand that Silicon Valley’s vision for AI is not inevitable.
Representative Aligned Grants
The initial portfolio of grants spans universities, research institutions, and think tanks, including:
- AI Now Institute will receive $2 million to help scale the organization’s work on national security and AI.
- Brookings Institution’s AI and Emerging Technologies Initiative will receive $2 million to help decision-makers understand how AI technologies are reshaping society and craft policies that maximize benefits while mitigating risks.
- Data & Society Research Institute will receive $500,000 as it deepens work focused on civic engagement and public conversations about AI.
- Human Rights Data Analysis Group, a project of Community Partners, will receive $500,000 to develop new AI infrastructure for civil society.
- London School of Economics and Political Science will receive $2 million to support a flagship global forum on AI and social science.
- New America will receive $1 million to launch “The Shangri La Series: A Global Dialogue on Shared AI Challenges” and related work focused on AI and geopolitics.
- Pulitzer Center will receive $1 million as it scales its AI Accountability Network, an interdisciplinary initiative that supports and convenes journalists reporting on the impacts of AI technologies.
- Washington Center for Equitable Growth will receive $1 million to convene stakeholders and advance rigorous policy-relevant research for measuring AI’s impact on the economy and workforce.
