I came across this programme for A.I. https://inspired-minds.co.uk/inspired-ai-events/ mostly being run by tech companies and their employees and it worries me that they are making A.I. and the fast development/deployment of A.I. less worrisome by influencing people. I can circle back with their points if I get in and see their presentations but the fact that it is mostly Microsoft and the like dominating the conversation instead of academics or people I suppose less focused on a mentality of “move fast and break things” when they are breaking people.
I agree that this is worrisome! At the same time, I would like to flag that academic researchers aren’t necessarily free from corporate influence either. Arguably, many technology companies fund academic research in order to shape the research agenda pursued in academia. To mention one example, one might argue that big technology companies are funding so much research about the ethics of artificial intelligence because this ultimately makes policymakers less likely to legally restrict the deployment of controversial technologies (cf. https://theintercept.com/2019/12/20/mit-ethical-ai-artificial-intelligence).