What You Need to Know About the United Nations’ Stance on AI

The United Nations is responsible for protecting human rights all over the world, as well as creating more sustainable and climate-friendly policies. With the rise of artificial intelligence being at the forefront of many countries’ technological innovations, it’s natural that AI would be thrust into the crosshairs at some point. The UN hopes to develop guidelines that protect people’s access to and use of AI without allowing it to cause more significant problems.

How the UN is Addressing AI

Policy Recommendations for Governance

An advisory board within the UN has released “Governing for Humanity,” a 100-page report that looks at how AI should be considered on a global scale. Here’s our abbreviated rundown of the report and what you should know about its contents.

Outlining the Report

We can’t cover all the details in the report, but we can cover the most important bits.

What’s Needed for Global Governance and Cooperation?

The executive summary outlines that AI is not just localized to one country or another; it is a global issue, as the resources to build it and the data to train it come from all over the world.

Naturally, this leads to several issues, including increased wealth and power imbalances, as well as a lack of accountability for those using it. The UN takes issue with the idea of laissez-faire governance. If there is any hope for continuous innovation and an improvement with these negative outcomes, then more governance is the answer.

As the authors put it:

“AI, therefore, presents challenges and opportunities that require a holistic, global approach cutting transversally across political, economic, social, ethical, human rights, technical, environmental and other domains. Such an approach can turn a patchwork of evolving initiatives into a coherent, interoperable whole, grounded in international law and the SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals], adaptable across contexts and over time.”

In other words, AI needs to be addressed as the global issue it is rather than a series of isolated problems.

Shoring Up Weak Points

This report also mentions several frameworks and guides that can govern AI, even though there have been few attempts to do so globally (with some countries not being involved in the discussions at all).

The UN’s advisory board also highlights that these tendencies reduce AI’s potential for equity. Thus, AI governance should include more of these global viewpoints so that inclusion can be a priority. This governance must also make strides to mitigate political strife caused by AI and to ensure that all can access it without fear.

Furthermore, there are only seven countries that are actually participating in the governance efforts, while 118 are excluded, so identifying this shortcoming offers solutions to them.

The Paper Lays Out a Plan for Enhancing Global Cooperation

These insights show that the UN has put together best practices for utilizing AI. This advice is given with the intention that it will work now and into the future:

Develop an international scientific panel on AI.
The UN recommends that an assortment of multidisciplinary experts be formed into an international panel to lead the dialogue on different AI governance policies.

Shape AI governance.
This group would be expected to share IT governance measures and promote their understanding to the average person and authority figures.

Share AI Standards
The UN has also established that groups of people sourced from different professions and specialties will be charged with creating standards against which to judge future AI projects. 

Create a Capacity Development Network
To help organize and support these activities, the UN would create centers to allow users everywhere to contribute to AI’s practical use and development.

Establish a Global Fund for AI
To level the playing field, a global fund would be created to create networks usable by those who lack the economic resources to do so independently, complete with data sets and the training needed to use them.

Create a Global Framework for AI Data
In addition to creating standards that all AI training data must uphold to maximize inclusivity and diversity, the UN proposes that this data be sharable for advancement and accountability. 

Establish an AI Office in the UN
The UN has also proposed that it create an office to assist with creating and maintaining the caliber of its AI framework and consult and coordinate with the Secretary-General and the whole of the UN to keep everyone on the same page.

This is but a small part of the report. If you’re interested in learning more, we recommend that you give it a readthrough.

Why Your Business Should Care

No matter where in the world your business is located, it should care about the outcomes of these initiatives.

Since the UN is developing international law, your business should stay up-to-date on the happenings surrounding AI. Furthermore, you must keep up with the advancements standardized by the UN.

If you’re ready to take advantage of the best technology out there and keep in line with any kind of decisions implemented by the UN, give Microtechs a call at (415) 246-0101 today.