Google and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (Escap) signed a memorandum of understating for a joint research network on artificial intelligence (AI) in Asia-Pacific.
"Asia-Pacific has advanced as a region in embracing AI, and it needs collaboration between technology producers, NGOs, researchers and governments to develop AI for social good, solving problems apart from economic development," said Kent Walker, Google senior vice-president for affairs.
The project is called the Asia-Pacific AI for Social Impact research network. Google provides a grant to the Association of Pacific Rim Universities for the scheme.
Google also launched the Google AI Impact Challenge, a US$25 million (818 million baht) call for proposals from any organisation or institution with ideas for how to use AI for social good.
The AI Impact Challenge is open for applications until Jan 22, 2019.
Meanwhile, Google announced a partnership with Rajavithi Hospital, which is operated by the Public Health Ministry's Department of Medical Services to help prevent blindness by using AI-powered software that screens for diabetic retinopathy.
Starting this month, the project kicks off clinical trials in select sites across the country.
Paisan Ruamviboonsuk, assistant director of the Centre of Medical Excellence at Rajavithi Hospital, said there are over 5 million patients with diabetes in Thailand, all of whom are at risk of diabetic eye disease, a condition that can lead to blindness.
This blindness can be prevented by regular screenings, he said.
In Thailand, there are only 1,400 ophthalmologists and most are based in Bangkok.
Google helps design machine-learning algorithms for 880,000 diagnoses, enabling real-time diagnosis through cloud-based AI.
The results of a retrospective study show the AI model was able to detect eye diseases better than trained human graders conducting similar screenings.
Chiang Mai and Pathum Thani have been selected for the one-year pilot test of the collaboration between Google and Rajavithi Hospital.
Jay Yagnik, vice-president and engineering fellow at Google, said AI is technically capable of solving social problems that are applicable to Thailand, such as predicting natural disasters and forest protection.