At a time when artificial intelligence is becoming a bigger part of everyday life, from medicine and robotics to economics and geopolitics, the United Nations (UN) has taken a step towards global cooperation through the formation of an independent scientific panel group dedicated to AI safety, risks and standards. This initiative aims to provide an international framework for assessing, recommending and overseeing the development and application of AI technologies worldwide, at a time when national policies and industrial interests often operate in a fragmented and inconsistent manner.
The panel group, whose members will be distinguished scientists and experts from various fields, including computing, ethics, security, human rights and global politics, will be tasked with regularly advising the UN, member states and international organizations on key issues of AI technology. Representatives of the United Nations point out that the goal is for this advisory body not to have direct authority to enact laws, but to serve as an expert set of guides, assessments and principles that can inform global strategy and regulation.
The key catalyst for the formation of this panel was a sense of urgency: artificial intelligence is developing faster than international legal and regulatory frameworks, and emerging risks, from threats to human rights and security to potential consequences for the labor market and the economy, require a coordinated and scientifically based debate. Panel members will address issues such as ethical standards, security protocols, long-term risk assessment and technological transparency.
An important aspect of this initiative is the inclusion of countries with different technological capacities and perspectives. The UN pointed out that the panel will not only be composed of scientists from the most technologically developed countries, but also from countries from the Global South, in order to ensure that vulnerable and marginalized populations, which could be most affected by AI abuses, have a voice in the debate on global AI regulation.
Although the panel does not have the legal power to directly impose regulations, it could play a prominent role in establishing minimum standards, protocols and best-practice recommendations that governments could adopt in their legislation. A similar approach has been used by previous UN groups on climate change and nuclear safety, where scientific assessments and recommendations serve as the basis for international agreements and national policies.
The initiative also comes at a time of intense global discussions about AI, including efforts by the Group of 7 (G7) and the European Union to define AI safety laws, as well as concerns that weak coordination of global rules could lead to an “AI race without rules,” in which technology leaders risk neglecting safety in favor of rapid development, writes AP News.