Tech in Focus: AI concerns at Dreamforce in San Francisco

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More than 170-thousand people are flocking to San Francisco's largest tech conference known as Dreamforce, run by the Enterprise cloud solution company Salesforce. But it's not your typical tech conference. In addition to the hardcore tech talk, some thought leaders are sending out warnings this year. Mark Niu has the story.

In his opening keynote address, Salesforce's Billionaire founder Marc Benioff said his company had restructured by setting up an office of ethical and humane technology.

He also had harsh words for the tech industry, just a day after Instagram's founders made the decision to leave their parent company - Facebook.

MARC BENIOFF CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, SALESFORCE "We are watching for companies that are not listening to their key stakeholders, not listening to their employees, not listening to the kids and for them we watch the executives walk out, the employees walk out, the customers walk out as a vote of no confidence against their values."

Benioff called for a higher responsibility in the industry, especially as Artificial Intelligence gets released into the world. On Dreamforce's expo floor, responsibility was also a hot topic among partners and peers. Nintex automates numerous processes including contracts, which means their algorithms could possibly approve your credit card application or even a loan.

MATT FLECKENSTEIN CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER, NINTEX "How do you make sure when a computer's making a decision, that it's doing so appropriately? One of the things you can do is it approach it in that way where AI on really clear cut things an algorithm makes the decision. But on anything in a gray area, you can still route it to a human being."

Dreamforce was filled with lectures on everything from training AI algorithms to weed out bias to this session entitled: 'How to Stop Technology from Destabilizing The World.'

The founder of the Center for Humane technology used the example of former President Obama photos - pointing out that none were real.

MARK NIU SAN FRANCISCO "Dreamforce, perhaps more than any other major tech conference in the San Francisco Bay area, puts a huge emphasis on giving back. And a big part of that is making sure the next generation has the skills and resources to thrive in the new economy."

At this event, Beniofff announced that Salesforce was donating over 15 million to San Francisco and Oakland public schools.

LIBBY SCHAAF MAYOR OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA "Companies cannot sit on the moral sidelines any longer, that companies have a responsibility and a need to take positions."

"Did you ever think you'd have a tech conference that would talk about the dangers of tech. Isn't that ironic?"

MARC BENIOFF CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, SALESFORCE "We started our company, we wanted to be a role model of what is ethical and good. But in today's world technology has become the center of everything we do, so you have to ask the question, 'Are we using technology for good or bad. The reality is that technology is never good or bad, it's what you do with it that matters."

Benioff says he's hoping Salesforce's new office of Ethics and Humane Technology will serve as a model for other companies to re-examine their values. Mark Niu, CGTN, San Francisco.