Humanity AI’s $500 Billion commitment is a Philanthropic bet against AI Juggernaut

Humanity AI has committed to carving an AI future that is centered around people and not capitalism. In this venture, ten major foundations are pooling $500 million over the span of five years to steer AI towards people-centric development. 

The initiative sounds groundbreaking and deserves all the applause. But once you compare the scale of mismatch, the investment feels nothing but wishful thinking. OpenAI’s stargate project alone commands $500 billion, not to mention the other similar endeavors. 

In this scenario, it is highly doubtful that this modest investment would be able to redefine any course of AI in comparison to the jaw-dropping inflow of cash by OpenAI and other big tech. This highlights that while philanthropic investment gets attention for caring, the numbers don’t support their intention (As of now). 

The Asymmetry of Resources

Microsoft, Google, or Meta all spend more on their quarterly AI development than Humanity AI’s entire five-year budget.  The venture’s top five priorities, democracy, education, humanities, labor, and security, immediately appeal to the ethical side of our brain, but cannot bypass ruthless consumerism with this set of priorities. 

The fact that giant investors such as MacArthur, Ford, Mellon, and Omidyar Network are backing this endeavor demonstrates that the philanthropic sector now realizes the existential implications of AI, but even their cumulative sum won’t be able to take on the venture capital investments and tech giants’ R&D budget. 

The Illusion of Accountability

Humanity AI asserts to encourage big companies to follow safety rules, but it can’t enforce them. Companies chasing AI breakthroughs will only follow ethical guidelines if it serves their purposes, not because philanthropy tells them to. As per their intentions, the initiative focuses on “Partnerships and Frameworks”. This suggests that they would concentrate on influencing policy rather than directly building alternative AI systems. 

As much as one should appreciate this long-term approach, it leaves all the technical control completely in corporate hands, while hoping against hope for the government to play its part, when the government is influenced by these very gigantic investors, humanityAI plans to move against. 

The fantasy of Labour Protection

Ever since the inception, or rather, explosion of AI, the replacement of the human workforce has been the biggest concern of skilled people around the globe (and rightfully so). When HumanityAI commits to care that “AI improves work and economic opportunities rather than replacing jobs”, it contradicts AI’s fundamental economic logic. 

Corporations adopt AI precisely to reduce labor costs. Why would they throw billions of dollars into developing intelligent AI systems while paying for social security, medical, housing, and retirement of their employees? The investment in AI would be compensated through the job cuts that AI begets.

HumanityAI is aiming for quite a challenging task of guiding AI development towards a more ethical and human-serving (not replacing) tool. But, compared to the billions that tech giants spend in the opposite direction, the investment feels like a small gesture of goodwill and nothing else. 

The initiative may make IA companies appear responsible, but those chasing profits make the real decisions.