United Nations Establishes AI Consulting Agency to Promote Healthy Industry Development

2023-10-30

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has established a dedicated advisory body on artificial intelligence (AI) with the mission of harnessing the power of this technology through international cooperation and governance to mitigate its risks.

Guterres stated, "Artificial intelligence has the potential to bring remarkable progress for humanity," and highlighted a range of benefits including in the fields of health, education, and digitalization in developing countries. Furthermore, he added, "It can accelerate efforts to address climate change and achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals."

However, Guterres warned that currently, AI expertise is "concentrated in a few companies and countries." This could exacerbate global inequalities, increase the spread of misinformation and bias, enable surveillance and privacy infringements, and overall, lead to human rights violations.

The Secretary-General pointed out, "Without needing to imagine a series of catastrophic scenarios, it is already clear that malicious use of artificial intelligence could undermine trust in institutions, weaken social cohesion, and threaten democracy itself." He added, "For these reasons, I call for a global, multidisciplinary, and multi-stakeholder dialogue on the governance of artificial intelligence to maximize its benefits for all humanity and minimize risks."

By the end of this year, the United Nations AI advisory body will present preliminary recommendations on three specific areas. These include international governance of AI, consensus and understanding of risks and challenges, and key opportunities and driving factors for the organization's Sustainable Development Goals.

These reference outcomes will be used to prepare for the United Nations Future Summit in 2024 and will be part of the proposed Global Digital Compact. This initiative aims to outline shared principles for an "open, free, and secure digital future" for all humanity.

The advisory body consists of 39 members from various countries and sectors such as private companies, academia, government, and civil society organizations.

Similar global initiatives to ensure responsible use of AI include the G7's AI Behavior Code and the upcoming AI Security Summit in London.