Based on interviews with over 60 IBMers, clients, and experts, we examined how cognitive technology and approaches are being applied for the public good. https://www.ibm.com/watson/advantage-reports/ai-social-good.html

1. Doing good in the
cognitive era
How artificial intelligence benefits us all
April 2017

2. How will artificial
intelligence help the
average person?
How will it benefit individual parents,
caregivers, students and citizens?
What about society at large?
Here’s what we learned from in-depth
conversations with more than 60 pioneers who
are applying AI for social good in Social
Services, the Environment, Education and
Public Safety.
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3. Social services
How cognitive technology can help
us protect the vulnerable
 Safeguarding the welfare of children
 Help the elderly safely age in place
 Providing new opportunities for
people with disabilities
 Improving mental health assistance
 Combating unemployment
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4. “Our goal is to help families
adjust to the daily
challenges of the disease,
and to help the medical staff
better understand the
disease’s evolution and how
it is affected by other
external factors. At the same
time, we want to help
patients preserve and
reinforce their memories.”
— Angelo Failla, Direttore
Fondazione, IBM Italia
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5.  Conserving natural resources
 Fighting pollution
 Creating sustainable choices for
consumers
 Learning from nature
Environment
How cognitive technology is
helping sustain the natural world
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6. “Cognitive computing can
enhance our human ability to
make better decisions for the
entire breadth of environmental
sustainability...air, water, waste,
energy, natural resources,
habitat conservation.”
— Wayne Balta, Vice President
Corporate Environmental Affairs and
Product Safety, IBM
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7. Education
How cognitive technology can
augment learning
 Personalized learning on a new
level
 The engaged classroom
 Battling educational inequality
 Lifelong learning made feasible
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8. “Computers don’t have the common
sense and emotional empathy that
great teachers do. But teachers can’t
do a lot of what computers can,
either. These complementary traits
will surprise and delight learners
over time.”
– Chalapathy Neti, Vice President,
IBM Watson Education
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9. Public safety
How cognitive technology helps us
protect lives
 Protecting public health
 Mitigating and responding to
emergencies
 Fighting crime
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10. “To identify potential threats or suspects in a case,
investigators have to research an overwhelming volume of
material. If a cognitive assistant can read and form
hypotheses, it can help investigators get to high probability
pursuits more quickly.”
— Richard Varos, VP of IBM Global Government Market Segments
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11. AI: Biggest social
change catalyst of
our lifetime?
 Knowing where to intervene
 Motivating people to do the right
thing
 Benefiting from shared life
experiences
 Unifying for good
 Giving hope
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April 2017
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Authors
Angie Casey
Brandon Buckner
Julie Yamamoto
Michelle Cullen
Learn more
ibm.com/watson/socialgood
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