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- Pat Gelsinger, former Intel CEO, has launched Flourishing AI, a benchmark to evaluate AI models based on human-centric values.
- The framework builds on global well-being research and incorporates faith and spirituality alongside conventional metrics.
- It aims to address the shortcomings of current AI benchmarks, which often fail to reflect meaningful understanding.
- The move reflects a growing trend in tech to embed ethical, emotional, and spiritual dimensions into AI evaluation.
Pat Gelsinger, the former CEO of Intel, has introduced a new benchmark designed to evaluate how well artificial intelligence aligns with deeply human values.
Named “Flourishing AI,” the initiative blends technology, psychology, and spirituality to provide a holistic assessment of large language models. The benchmark was launched in partnership with Gloo, a company known for creating tech tools tailored to faith-based communities.
Drawing inspiration from the Global Flourishing Study conducted by Harvard and Baylor University, Flourishing AI captures a broader spectrum of well-being than traditional AI metrics. Instead of focusing on performance speed or factual accuracy alone, it turns attention to dimensions like happiness, character, and purpose.
Faith Meets Function in AI Design
The inclusion of “Faith and Spirituality” as a formal metric sets Gelsinger’s benchmark apart. While existing AI principles tend to prioritize values such as transparency, fairness, and privacy, they largely sidestep spiritual or moral development. Gelsinger believes this gap must be addressed if AI is to truly enhance human life rather than merely replicate aspects of it.
He explained that this initiative reflects a personal mission he has long carried to connect faith and technology in a meaningful way. Having ended his 40-year career at Intel in December, Gelsinger appears focused on influencing the future of AI through ethical frameworks that incorporate not just what machines can do, but what they should do.
Bridging a Critical Evaluation Gap
Current AI benchmarks have come under increasing scrutiny for failing to capture how models actually engage with nuanced, real-world challenges. Studies have shown that many existing frameworks produce unreliable or misleading evaluations, often lacking the depth required to assess true understanding or alignment with human intent.
Flourishing AI enters this space with a fresh methodology, rooted in long-term academic research and tailored to evaluate emotional and relational intelligence in machines.
The timing is significant. As more companies adopt ethical AI principles, they often struggle to operationalize those values. A 2024 industry survey found that while over 70 leading digital companies now claim to follow ethical AI standards, fewer than a third offer details on how those values are implemented. Gelsinger’s framework could become a guidepost for organizations trying to close this gap.
Momentum Builds Around Value-Based AI
The rollout of Flourishing AI reflects a broader shift in the tech industry toward value-aligned development. Corporate interest in ethical AI has surged, with the number of formal AI ethics committees more than doubling in the past year.
Meanwhile, global institutions such as the United Nations are pushing for standardized AI governance through initiatives like the Global Digital Compact.
Still, the path forward is uneven. Many organizations continue to struggle with integrating human rights and ethical safeguards into day-to-day AI deployments. By offering a structured, research-backed model that prioritizes flourishing over functionality, Gelsinger hopes to influence a more values-centered direction for artificial intelligence development.
