Eminent technology experts from India have been named to a new global advisory body announced by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to support the international community’s efforts to govern artificial intelligence.
The advisory body, comprising experts from various sectors including government, private industry, research, civil society, and academia, is dedicated to establishing a worldwide scientific consensus on the risks and challenges associated with AI. It also seeks to promote the use of AI for the Sustainable Development Goals and strengthen international cooperation in AI governance.
Prominent members of this advisory body include Amandeep Singh Gill, the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology; Sharad Sharma, co-founder of the iSPIRT Foundation; and Nazneen Rajani, a Lead Researcher at Hugging Face. Guterres emphasized the potential of AI to drive progress in various areas, such as crisis prediction and response, public health, and education services, suggesting that AI could enhance the work of governments, civil society, and the United Nations. He highlighted the opportunity for developing economies to leverage AI to address pressing needs.
Gill, who serves as the Secretary General’s Envoy on Technology, has a background in digital health and artificial intelligence research. Sharma, in addition to his role at the iSPIRT Foundation, has been involved in various technology-related endeavours and investments. Rajani specializes in AI safety and alignment, particularly in the context of Large Language Models. The advisory body also includes members from other parts of the world, covering a wide range of expertise and perspectives.
Guterres stressed the transformative potential of AI for addressing pressing global challenges, including climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals. However, he also noted the importance of responsible AI usage and accessibility, particularly for developing nations. He pointed out that AI expertise is currently concentrated in a few companies and countries, which could exacerbate global inequalities.
The UN Secretary-General raised concerns about the potential negative impacts of AI, including misinformation, bias, discrimination, surveillance, privacy invasion, fraud, and human rights violations. He warned that malicious use of AI could undermine trust in institutions, social cohesion, and democracy. As a response to these challenges, he called for a global, multidisciplinary, and multistakeholder conversation on AI governance, with the new Advisory Body serving as a starting point.
The establishment of the AI Advisory Body represents a significant step in the United Nations’ efforts to address issues related to the international governance of artificial intelligence. This initiative is designed to take a globally inclusive approach, leveraging the UN’s convening power as a universal forum for addressing critical challenges. The Body aims to connect with existing and emerging AI governance initiatives and deliver preliminary recommendations by the end of 2023, followed by final recommendations in the summer of 2024, leading up to the Summit of the Future.
