The United Nations should take an active role in understanding the risks and sharing the benefits of Artificial Intelligence according to a long-awaited report from the High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence to the UN, published on Thursday (19 September).
In her State of the Union address in 2023, Ursula von der Leyen joined the chorus of calls to establish an international AI institution, specifically an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)- like body, to help navigate the risks and benefits of AI.
Now, the body advising the UN’s approach to AI wants to grant her wish. A day before the start of the flagship Summit of the Future, they urge the UN “to lay the foundations of the first globally inclusive and distributed architecture for AI governance” in a press release.
“With its development in the hands of a few multinational companies in a few countries […] the imperative of global governance is irrefutable,” reads the press release and report.
The Advisory Body proposes establishing an IPCC-like international scientific panel on AI to build a global understanding of “AI capabilities, opportunities, risks and uncertainties.”
To limit the “AI divide,” the Advisory Body proposes a global AI Fund. The fund would facilitate access to AI enablers like computing, datasets, AI models, and governance tools for countries lagging behind in AI.
To ensure interoperability of global AI governance, the Advisory Body proposes having twice-yearly intergovernmental policy dialogues and establishing an AI standards exchange.
A capacity development network of collaborating UN-affiliated centres is proposed to enhance the global sharing of expertise, computing and AI training data. A global AI data framework is proposed to facilitate data sharing, quality, and fair compensation of data subjects.
Finally, they propose establishing an AI office under the secretary-general to coordinate the UN’s efforts.
Previously, the United Kingdom hosted the first AI Safety Summit and fronted the creation of a yearly international state-of-the-science report on AI risks and a network of AI Safety institutes.
The OECD, G7, G20, the EU, the African Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Organisation of American States have also led international AI initiatives.
The Advisory Body says these have informed their approach, but as none are truly global and cannot coordinate properly, a UN global governance structure is needed.
The UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology, Amandeep Singh Gill, and the Advisory Body will hold a press conference on the report at 7 p.m. CET today (19 September).
[Edited by Alice Taylor-Braçe]