Bowdoin College has received the largest donation in its history for a new initiative to research artificial intelligence.
Reed Hastings, Bowdoin alum and cofounder of Netflix, has donated $50 million to the college.
President Safa Zaki said as AI is progressing quickly, Bowdoin will host conversations about the best ways to utilize the technology.
"It will require us to do some deep thinking about the ethical frameworks, the possibilities, the ways to leverage AI in ways that support humanity," she said.
The Hastings Initiative for AI and Humanity will focus on the implications of AI, both positive and negative. Zaki said the gift will be used to help shape the ethical trajectory of the technology.
"But it will require experimentation and iteration and the bandwidth to have these conversations," she said. "And I'm so grateful for this funding, because it will afford us just those things."
The funding will allow the college to hire ten new faculty members in a variety of disciplines, and support current faculty who want to incorporate AI into their research.
