London, May 28: Even in a "runaway Artificial Intelligence (AI)" scenario, robots will not render people completely jobless, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told The Sunday Telegraph in an interview.

People will always want a job as it gives them "dignity", Nadella said, adding that the focus should instead be on applying AI technology ethically.

"What I think needs to be done in 2018 is more dialogue around the ethics, the principles that we can use for the engineers and companies that are building AI, so that the choices we make don't cause us to create systems with bias … that's the tangible thing we should be working on," he was quoted as saying.

According to a report in MIT Technology Review on May 25, Microsoft is building a tool to automate the identification of bias in a range of different AI algorithms.

The Microsoft tool has the potential to help businesses make use of AI without inadvertently discriminating against certain groups of people. 

Although Microsoft's new tool may not eliminate the problem of bias that may creep into Machine-Learning models altogether, it will help AI researchers catch more instances of unfairness, Rich Caruna, a senior researcher at Microsoft who is working on the bias-detection dashboard, was quoted as saying by MIT Technology Review. 

"Of course, we can't expect perfection -- there's always going to be some bias undetected or that can't be eliminated -- the goal is to do as well as we can," he said.

In the interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Nadella also said that as Microsoft's business model was based on customers paying for services, he believed the company was on "the right side of history". 

"Our business model is based on our customers being successful, and if they are successful they will pay us. So we are not one of these transaction-driven or ad-driven or marketplace-driven economies," the Microsoft chief was quoted as saying.

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Mandya (Karnataka) (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday appealed to people to take nine collective pledges, ranging from water conservation, natural farming, to fitness and service, to realise a "developed Karnataka and a developed India".

Listing his priorities, Modi said his first request is about water conservation and better water management, followed by appeals for tree plantation under the ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ (One tree in the name of mother) campaign, cleanliness in public and religious places, strengthening local products through “Vocal for Local,” promoting domestic tourism, adopting chemical-free natural farming, encouraging healthy eating with millets and reduced oil consumption.

Modi also urged people to embrace yoga and fitness, and to nurture service.

“If we move forward with honesty and determination on these nine resolutions, we can rapidly progress towards a developed Karnataka and a developed India,” he said while addressing an event organised to inaugurate Sri Guru Bhairavaikya Mandira at the Adichunchanagiri Mahasamsthana Math in Mandya.

The Mandira is a memorial dedicated to the revered seer, Sri Balagangadharanatha Mahaswami, the 71st Pontiff of the Math, revered by the dominant Vokkaliga community.

Modi also released a book titled 'Saundarya Lahari and Shiva Mahimna Stotram' along with former Prime Minister and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda.

Ahead of the inauguration of 'Mandira', the Prime Minister visited Jwala Peeta -- where, according to a legend, Lord Shiva resided for penance -- and also Sri Kalabhairaveshwara Swamy temple and offered prayer there.

Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, current pontiff of Adichunchanagiri Mahasamsthana Math, Nirmalanandanatha Mahaswami, Union Ministers H D Kumaraswamy and Shobha Karandlaje were among those present.