*Seven new senior fellows, including SRI Director* ***Gillian Hadfield****, have been selected by* ***Schmidt Futures*** *to solve hard problems in artificial intelligence through multidisciplinary research, with up to USD $7 million in support.*

Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic initiative of Eric and Wendy Schmidt, has announced the second cohort of AI2050 senior fellows who will pursue bold and interdisciplinary research in artificial intelligence (AI) to help chart the development of AI for societal benefit. Among the newly appointed senior fellows is Gillian Hadfield, director and chair of the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society.

AI2050 is a program that advances Eric and Wendy Schmidt’s USD $125 million, five-year commitment to support talented individuals working to ensure AI’s benefit to society. AI2050 fellows grapple with the program’s motivating question: “It’s 2050. AI has turned out to be hugely beneficial to society. What happened? What are the most important problems we solved and the opportunities and possibilities we realized to ensure this outcome?” The 2023 senior fellows will join the existing community of AI2050 fellows including the inaugural 2022 cohort of 5 senior fellows and 15 early career fellows.

The seven 2023 senior fellows are leading ambitious work that will accelerate progress in AI to solve the hardest problems in their respective fields. Their work spans a broad spectrum, from revolutionizing drug discovery in Africa, to increasing the capacity of AI systems for cooperative and aligned behaviour, to pioneering human-centric robots capable of performing everyday household activities. Cohort members will seek sustainable AI solutions that transcend boundaries, whether by creating art installations for community engagement with AI or via integrating large language models with symbolic AI to mimic human cognition. They will use AI to speed up scientific simulations and investigate what it means to be human in the age of AI. Their collective efforts underscore the necessary work that remains in ensuring that AI serves as a catalyst for positive change.

AI2050 has allocated up to USD $7 million to support the new senior fellows’ research to address the Hard Problems in AI in their respective fields including computer science, chemistry, cognitive science, the arts, and philosophy. Fellows may also be eligible for additional support and opportunities as their research agenda further develops.

Schmidt Futures is excited to announce the following scholars as 2023 AI2050 senior fellows:

Anima Anandkumar, California Institute of Technology
Fei-Fei Li, Stanford University
Gillian Hadfield, University of Toronto
Kelly Chibale, University of Cape Town
Josh Tenenbaum, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Stephanie Dinkins, Stony Brook University
Tobias Rees, Limn.

“AI is already an irreversible part of our daily lives, from recommendation systems on our phones to tools for scientific research,” said James Manyika, co-chair of AI2050. “But the challenge of harnessing AI for good requires multidisciplinary work from those at the frontier of AI’s technological developments, as well as those at the frontier of analyzing its impacts on society. AI will provide a net benefit for humanity if we can solve specific hard problems concerning its development, risks, opportunities, and effects.”

“AI is changing human knowledge, perception, identity, and reality,” said Eric Schmidt, co-founder of Schmidt Futures and co-chair of AI2050. “The responsible application of AI can chart this transformative technology’s development which will deliver benefits for all, earn the public trust, and advance scientific progress.”

“AI2050 is motivated by the critical question of how humanity can realize the most beneficial aspects of AI, while simultaneously mitigating its potentially harmful and destabilizing effects,” said Mark Greaves, executive director of AI2050. “I eagerly welcome our new senior fellows into the AI2050 community and look forward to watching them change the world.”

About Schmidt Futures

Founded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt, Schmidt Futures is a philanthropic initiative that finds and connects talented people across fields, generations, and geographies to harness their collective skills for public benefit. To learn more about Schmidt Futures, visit their website.

About AI2050

AI2050 is an initiative of Schmidt Futures, conceived and co-chaired by Eric Schmidt and James Manyika, that aims to support exceptional people working on key opportunities and hard problems that are critical to get right for society to benefit from AI. To learn more about the AI2050 initiative, visit the website.

This story was originally published on Schmidt Futures’ website on October 17, 2023.