UN Secretary-General launches AI Advisory Body on risks, opportunities, and international governance of artificial intelligence

“For developing economies, AI offers the possibility of leapfrogging outdated technologies and bringing services directly to people who need them most. The transformative potential of AI for good is difficult even to grasp.

And without entering into a host of doomsday scenarios, it is already clear that the malicious use of AI could undermine trust in institutions, weaken social cohesion and threaten democracy itself,” Mr. Guterres said.

“For all these reasons, I have called for a global, multidisciplinary, multistakeholder conversation on the governance of AI so that its benefits to humanity – all of humanity – are maximized, and the risks contained and diminished.”

The formation of the AI Advisory Body marks a significant step in United Nations’ efforts to address issues in the international governance of artificial intelligence.

The new initiative will foster a globally inclusive approach, drawing on the UN’s unique convening power as a universal and inclusive forum on critical challenges.

Bringing together experts from government, the private sector, the research community, civil society, and academia, the Body’s global, gender-balanced and interdisciplinary makeup will help it play a unique role in helping AI work for humanity.

The Body’s immediate tasks include building a global scientific consensus on risks and challenges, helping harness AI for the Sustainable Development Goals, and strengthening international cooperation on AI governance.

The Body will help bridge other existing and emerging initiatives on AI governance, and issue preliminary recommendations by end-2023, with final recommendations by summer 2024, ahead of the Summit of the Future.

The first meeting of the Body will take place on 27 October 2023.

Find out more at: www.un.org/ai-advisory-body

Secretary-General: Stressing Artificial Intelligence Could Power Extraordinary Progress for Humanity

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Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the press conference launching the High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence, in New York on 26 October:

Today I am launching my High-Level Multistakeholder Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence.

The last year has seen an extraordinary advance in the capabilities and use of artificial intelligence, through chatbots, voice cloning, image generators, video apps and more.

Thanks to one such app, I had the surreal experience of watching myself deliver a speech in flawless Chinese, despite the fact that I do not speak Chinese and the lips movement corresponded exactly to what I was saying.

This is just one example of the incredible possibilities -- and the potential dangers -- of AI.

In our challenging times, AI could power extraordinary progress for humanity.  From predicting and addressing crises to rolling out public health services and education services, AI could scale up and amplify the work of Governments, civil society and the United Nations across the board.

For developing economies, AI offers the possibility of leapfrogging outdated technologies and bringing services directly to people where needs are bigger and for the people that need them most.

The transformative potential of AI for good is difficult even to grasp.  And we are in urgent need of this enabler and accelerator.  As many countries are already reeling from the impact of the climate crisis.  The 2030 Agenda -- our global blueprint for peace and prosperity on a healthy planet -- is in deep trouble.

AI could help to turn that around.  It could supercharge climate action and efforts to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.  But all this depends on AI technologies being harnessed responsibly and made accessible to all -- including the developing countries that need them most.

As things stand, AI expertise is concentrated in a handful of companies and countries.  This could deepen global inequalities and turn digital divides into chasms.  The potential harms of AI extend to serious concerns over misinformation and disinformation; the entrenching of bias and discrimination; surveillance and invasion of privacy; fraud, and other violations of human rights.

Without entering into a host of doomsday scenarios, it is already clear that the malicious use of AI could undermine trust in institutions, weaken social cohesion and threaten democracy itself.  For all these reasons, I have called for a global, multidisciplinary, multistakeholder conversation on the governance of AI so that its benefits to humanity -- all of humanity -- are maximized, and the risks contained are diminished.

This Advisory Body is the starting point.  This group will work independently, guided by some basic principles.  The Advisory Body’s efforts will be inclusive and based on the universal values enshrined in the United Nations Charter.  It will consider how we can link various AI governance initiatives that are already under way.

And it will work fast because we are against the clock.  It will make preliminary recommendations in three areas by the end of this year -- the international governance of artificial intelligence; a shared understanding of risks and challenges; and key opportunities and enablers -- to leverage AI to accelerate the delivery of the SDGs.

The Advisory Body’s recommendations will feed into preparations for the Summit of the Future next September, and specifically into negotiations around the proposed Global Digital Compact.  The Body will consult with my Scientific Advisory Board, particularly on how we can harness the benefits of AI to accelerate advances for the good of all.

This High-Level Advisory Body is gender-balanced, geographically diverse and spans generations.  Members have deep experience across Government, businesses, the technology community, civil society and academia.  They bring a broad range of perspectives to the task.

I am grateful and delighted that this outstanding group have agreed to put their knowledge and expertise at the service of the United Nations. They will serve in their personal capacity, and I ask them to consult widely, extensively and transparently to hear the views of all stakeholders.

I thank the members in advance for their commitment and contribution to make AI work for all of humanity.  I thank you.  My colleagues will be able to give all the qualifications that you might require.  Thank you very much.

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New Artificial Intelligence Advisory Board

Today, the Secretary-General at a press conference announced the creation of a new Artificial Intelligence Advisory Body on risks, opportunities and international governance of artificial intelligence.  That body will support the international community’s efforts to govern artificial intelligence.

The members are listed below:

• Anna Abramova, Director of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations-University AI Centre, Russian Federation
• Omar Sultan al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence of the United Arab Emirates, United Arab Emirates
• Latifa al-Abdulkarim, Member of the Shura Council (Saudi Parliament), Assistant Professor of Computer Science at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia
• Estela Aranha, Special Advisor to the Minister for Justice and Public Security, Federal Government of Brazil, Brazil
• Carme Artigas, Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence of Spain, Spain
• Ran Balicer, Chief Innovation Officer and Deputy Director General at Clalit Health Services Israel, Israel
• Paolo Benanti, Third Order Regular Franciscan, Lecturer at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Italy
• Abeba Birhane, Senior Advisor in AI Accountability at Mozilla Foundation, Ethiopia
• Ian Bremmer, President and Founder of Eurasia Group, United States
• Anna Christmann, Aerospace Coordinator of the German Federal Government, Germany
• Natasha Crampton, Chief Responsible AI Officer at Microsoft, New Zealand
• Nighat Dad, Executive Director of the Digital Rights Foundation Pakistan, Pakistan
• Vilas Dhar, President of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, United States
• Virginia Dignum, Professor of Responsible Artificial Intelligence at Umeå University, Portugal/Netherlands
• Arisa Ema, Associate Professor at the University of Tokyo, Japan
• Mohamed Farahat, Legal Consultant and Vice-Chair of MAG of North Africa IGF, Egypt
• Amandeep Singh Gill, Secretary-General's Envoy on Technology
• Dame Wendy Hall, Regius Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton, United Kingdom
• Rahaf Harfoush, Digital Anthropologist, France
• Hiroaki Kitano, Chief Technology Officer of Sony Group Corporation, Japan
• Haksoo Ko, Chair of Republic of Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission, Republic of Korea
• Andreas Krause, Professor at ETH Zurich, Switzerland
• James Manyika, Senior Vice-President of Google-Alphabet, President for Research, Technology and Society, Zimbabwe
• Maria Vanina Martinez Posse, Ramon and Cajal Fellow at the Artificial Research Institute, Argentina
• Seydina Moussa Ndiaye, Lecturer at Cheikh Hamidou Kane Digital University, Senegal
• Mira Murati, Chief Technology Officer of OpenAI, Albania
• Petri Myllymaki, Full Professor at the Department of Computer Science of University of Helsinki, Finland
• Alondra Nelson, Harold F. Linder Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, United States
• Nazneen Rajani, Lead Researcher at Hugging Face, India
• Craig Ramlal, Head of the Control Systems Group at the University of The West Indies at St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago
• He Ruimin, Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer and Deputy Chief Digital Technology Officer, Government of Singapore, Singapore
• Emma Ruttkamp-Bloem, Professor at the University of Pretoria, South Africa
• Sharad Sharma, Co-founder iSPIRT Foundation, India
• Marietje Schaake, International Policy Director at Stanford University Cyber Policy Center, Netherlands
• Jaan Tallinn, Co-founder of the Cambridge Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, Estonia
• Philip Thigo, Adviser at the Government of Kenya, Kenya
• Jimena Sofia Viveros Alvarez, Chief of Staff and Head Legal Advisor to Justice Loretta Ortiz at the Mexican Supreme Court, Mexico
• Yi Zeng, Professor and Director of Brain-inspired Cognitive AI Lab, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
• Zhang Linghan, Professor at the Institute of Data Law, China University of Political Science and Law, China

For more information and resources at the following link:

https://www.un.org/techenvoy/ai-advisory-body

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