A A United Nations report released today proposes that the international organization oversee the first truly global effort to monitor and govern artificial intelligence.
The report, produced by the UN Secretary-General’s High Level Advisory Body on AI, recommends establishing a body similar to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to collect up-to-date information on AI and its risks.
The report calls for a new policy dialogue on AI so that the UN’s 193 member states can discuss risks and agree on actions. The report further recommends that the UN take steps to enable poorer countries, particularly those in the Global South, to benefit from AI and contribute to its governance. These, the report says, should include creating an AI fund to support projects in these countries, establishing AI standards and data-sharing systems, and creating resources such as training to help countries with AI governance. Some of the report’s recommendations could be facilitated by the Global Digital Compact, an existing plan to address digital and data divides between countries. Finally, the report suggests establishing an AI office within the UN dedicated to coordinating existing efforts across the UN to achieve the report’s goals.
“There is an international community that agrees that AI poses dangers and risks as well as opportunities,” said Alondra Nelson, a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study who served on the U.N. advisory body on the recommendation of the White House and the State Department.
The remarkable capabilities that large language models and chatbots have demonstrated in recent years have fueled hopes for a revolution in economic productivity, but have also prompted some experts to warn that AI may be developing too quickly and could soon become difficult to control. Not long after ChatGPT appeared, many scientists and entrepreneurs signed a letter calling for a six-month pause in the technology’s development so that the risks could be assessed.
More immediate concerns include the potential for AI to automate disinformation, generate deepfake video and audio, replace workers en masse, and exacerbate societal algorithmic bias on an industrial scale. “There’s a sense of urgency, and people feel like we need to work together,” Nelson says.
The UN’s proposals reflect the strong interest among policymakers worldwide in regulating AI to mitigate these risks. But it also comes as major powers, notably the United States and China, jostle to take the lead in a technology that promises enormous economic, scientific and military benefits, and as these countries establish their own visions for how it should be used and controlled.
In March, the United States introduced a resolution at the UN calling on member states to embrace the development of “safe, secure and trustworthy AI.” In July, China introduced its own resolution emphasizing cooperation on developing AI and making the technology widely available. All UN member states signed both agreements.
“AI is part of the competition between the U.S. and China, so there are only so many things they can agree on,” says Joshua Meltzer, an expert at the Brookings Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C. Key differences, he says, include what values AI should embody and protections around privacy and personal data.
