The National Artificial Intelligence R&D Strategic Plan
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Expanding Partnerships to More Diverse Stakeholders
Expanding partnerships between the public and private sectors to include civil society organizations serves
to involve those organizations’ unique perspectives in the discussion of future developments regarding
the implications of AI research, development, and use. Furthermore, development of R&D approaches
that focus on accountability, equity, and respect for democratic values and human rights is critical in
additional considerations of AI design, development, and deployment. Equitable access to partnerships,
ethical guidelines in charters, early experience with developing technologies by a wider stakeholder
community, and diverse insight into the strengths and weaknesses of participant approaches yield a more
robust AI infrastructure and ecosystem. Also recommended is a more concerted effort to produce
international collaborations with like-minded governments, multinational corporations, and the civil
society organizations of other nations, which has the potential to accelerate advances in AI for global
benefit, as detailed in Strategy 9.
Translation to practice that emphasizes ethics, safety, and public good is also of high importance.
Involvement of civil society and its representative organizations is critical for discussion of equitable
access and use, and of trustworthiness issues. Companies of all sizes publish guidelines and focus on
reducing their risks in AI product development.
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Small nonprofit organizations are major contributors to
societal “AI for Good” efforts, often with substantial volunteer programs that leverage the growing pool
of AI talent in the United States. Efforts to increase capacity for advisory services across sectors were
recommended by the National Academies
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to help build partnerships for public good.
Collaborations between public-private partnerships and civil society organizations are particularly critical
in striving for equitable access to and use of AI, and in addressing concerns about societal implications to
the global ecosphere (e.g., climate change, energy security, agricultural challenges, and healthcare).
Governments and international bodies play a key role in setting standards for just and responsible use.
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An open-access AI collaboration ecosystem that includes large and small corporations, advanced
computing capabilities and other resources only available in government agencies, and a diversity of
organizations having varied perspectives, expertise, and capabilities can lead to a more ethical use of AI.
These diverse collaborations lead to innovations and support new models such as partnerships between
minority-serving institutions and National AI Research Institutes.
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Partnerships can also support the inherently interdisciplinary nature of AI R&D, which requires
convergence between computer and information science, cognitive science and psychology, economics
and game theory, the physical sciences, engineering and control theory, medicine, ethics, linguistics,
mathematics and statistics, and philosophy. Bringing together this wide diversity of disciplines poses a
significant research and logistical challenge (for example, in a common taxonomy), but the ultimate
outcomes drive the development and evaluation of future AI systems that are fair, transparent,
accountable, safe, and secure.
Improving, Enlarging, and Creating Mechanisms for R&D Partnerships
R&D is a team effort, often conducted by diverse groups operating in multiple institutions. Public-private
partnerships require institutional arrangements to facilitate the pooling of resources for efficient return
on investment of time and funding, faster outcomes, and positive impacts, and avoiding duplication of
efforts. An array of potential configurations and mechanisms for public-private partnerships has been
developed over the past few decades for a variety of AI applications.
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Expanding the reach of existing
mechanisms, improving their functioning and outputs for a more diverse set of participants and
application spaces, and creating new forms of public-private partnerships are significant and valuable
endeavors. Examples include the following: