On Thursday (October 26th) local time, United Nations Secretary General Guterres announced the establishment of a 39 member advisory body to provide support to the international community in strengthening governance of artificial intelligence (AI).
Guterres stated in a United Nations press release: For developing economies, AI offers the possibility of leapfrog outdated technologies and directly providing services to those in greatest need. The potential for change in AI is so great that it is difficult to grasp. Without involving a series of apocalyptic scenarios, it is already evident that the malicious use of AI may undermine trust in various institutions, weaken social cohesion, and threaten democracy itself
For all the above reasons, I have called for a multi-stakeholder and multidisciplinary global dialogue on AI governance to maximize its benefits to humanity (as a whole) and curb and reduce risks, "Guterres said
With the emergence of chat robot ChatGPT, major technology companies have increased their investment in the AI field, viewing it as the next trend of the era. However, the potential risks brought about by the rapid development of AI have increasingly become a worrying topic. Currently, many countries are formulating laws to regulate the development of AI, and some researchers and legislators are calling for global cooperation.
According to the official release, the United Nations' AI advisory body will help coordinate existing and new AI governance initiatives, issue preliminary recommendations by the end of 2023, and provide final recommendations before the 2024 Summer Future Summit. The institution will hold its first meeting on October 27, 2023.
According to the official website of the United Nations, the members of the AI consulting agency include technology company executives, government officials from Spain to Saudi Arabia, as well as scholars from countries such as China, the United States, Russia, and Japan.
The United Nations stated that the membership of the institution has global, gender balanced, and interdisciplinary characteristics, which will help the institution play a unique role in making AI serve humanity.
Mira Murati, Chief Technology Officer of OpenAI, Natasha Crampton, Chief AI Officer of Microsoft, and Hiroaki Kitano, Chief Technology Officer of Sony are all executive representatives of technology companies.