UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres launches advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence
Oct 27, 2023
New York [US], October 27 : The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres launched a 39-member advisory body to tech company executives, government officials and academics from countries spanning six countries, VOA reported.
More significantly, iSPIRT Foundation's co-founder, Sharad Sharma from India, has been appointed as a member of the newly established United Nations' advisory body on Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The 39-member advisory body, which includes senior Indian diplomat Amandeep Singh Gill, who serves as UN Secretary-General's Envoy on Technology, will work to establish a consensus on the global risks associated with AI and determine how international cooperation can mitigate these risks.
Sharma, who leads the iSPIRT Foundation that conceptualised India Stack, Health Stack, and other digital public goods, will bring the Indian perspective to the governance of the emerging technology.
The American based news daily Voice of America, reported that the panel aims to issue preliminary recommendations on AI governance by the end of this year and finalize them before the U.N. Summit of the Future next September
The United Nations has begun an effort to help the world manage the risks and benefits of artificial intelligence.
"The transformative potential of AI for good is difficult even to grasp," Guterres said. He pointed to possible uses including predicting crises, improving public health and education, and tackling the climate crisis, VOA reported.
However, he cautioned, "it is already clear that the malicious use of AI could undermine trust in institutions, weaken social cohesion and threaten democracy itself."
Widespread concern about the risks associated with AI has grown since tech company OpenAI launched ChatGPT last year. Its ease of use has raised concern that the tool could replace writing tasks that previously only humans could perform, VOA reported.
With many calling for regulation of AI, researchers and lawmakers have stressed the need for global cooperation on the matter.
Meanwhile, Guterres in his remarks at the press conference stressed that the artificial Intelligence Could power extraordinary progress for Humanity.
"The last year has seen an extraordinary advance in the capabilities and use of artificial intelligence, through chatbots, voice cloning, image generators, video apps and more. Thanks to one such app, I had the surreal experience of watching myself deliver a speech in flawless Chinese, despite the fact that I do not speak Chinese and the lips movement corresponded exactly to what I was saying" Guterres said
"This is just one example of the incredible possibilities -- and the potential dangers -- of AI. In our challenging times, AI could power extraordinary progress for humanity. From predicting and addressing crises to rolling out public health services and education services, AI could scale up and amplify the work of Governments, civil society and the United Nations across the board. For developing economies, AI offers the possibility of leapfrogging outdated technologies and bringing services directly to people where needs are bigger and for the people that need them most" Guterres added.
Meanwhile, the AI advisory body will hold its first meeting on October 27 and will issue its preliminary recommendations by the end of the year. The panel will come up with final recommendations by 2024.
