UN scientists warned on Thursday that market forces alone should not drive the development of artificial intelligence (AI), advocating instead for the development of instruments for international collaboration.
However, they refrained from proposing the establishment of a strong global regulatory authority to supervise the implementation and advancement of a technology whose widespread usage has sparked concerns about biases, abuse, and dependence.
The team, which consists of about forty specialists in technology, law, and data protection, was formed in October by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Their research, which was released just days before the high-profile “Summit of the Future” expresses concerns about the absence of global AI governance and the effective exclusion of developing nations from discussions over the direction of the technology.
Out of the 193 members of the UN, just seven are involved in the seven major AI-related efforts, while 118 members—mostly countries in the global south—are completely absent.
The experts caution in their research that “there is, today, a global governance deficit with respect to AI,” which is by its very nature cross-border.
“AI must serve humanity equitably and safely. Left unchecked, the dangers posed by artificial intelligence could have serious implications for democracy, peace, and stability.” said Guterres this past week.
In light of his urgent appeal, the experts urged UN members to establish systems that would facilitate international cooperation on the matter and guard against unintentional proliferation.
“The development, deployment and use of such a technology cannot be left to the whims of markets alone.” the report stated.
First, it advocated for the formation of an AI scientific expert group based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) expert forum, whose findings are considered authoritative on climate change matters.
In addition to identifying research requirements, the panel would provide an update on growing threats to the global community and discuss potential applications, such as reducing hunger, poverty, and gender inequality.
This suggestion will be approved on Sunday at the “Summit of the Future”, and is part of the Global Digital Compact draft, which is now being discussed.
The UN secretariat should establish a loosely structured “coordination” framework, according to the report.
However, it falls short of creating a comprehensive international governance organization, as envisioned by Guterres, using the IAEA as a model.
“If the risks of AI become more serious, and more concentrated, it might become necessary for Member States to consider a more robust international institution with monitoring, reporting, verification, and enforcement powers.” it was said in report.
Because of the high-speed pace of progress in AI, the authors agree that it would be useless to try to assemble an all-inclusive list of risks.
At the same time, they called attention to the dangers of misrepresentation for democracy, the rise in realism of deepfakes, especially those that are pornographic, the development of autonomous weaponry, and the employment of artificial intelligence (AI) by terrorist and criminal organizations.
“Given the speed, autonomy and opacity of AI systems, however, waiting for a threat to emerge may mean that any response will come too late. Continued scientific assessments and policy dialogue would ensure that the world is not surprised.” the report said.
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