UNITED NATIONS.- The General Assembly passed the first United Nations resolution on artificial intelligence on Thursday, providing global support for an international effort to ensure that the powerful new technology benefits all nations, respects human rights and is “safe and trustworthy.” .
The resolution, sponsored by USA and co-sponsored by 123 countries – including China – was adopted by consensus with a gavel and without a vote, meaning it has the support of all 193 UN member countries.
US Vice President Kamala Harris and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan called the resolution “historic” for establishing principles for safely using artificial intelligence. Secretary of State Antony Blinken considered this “a historic initiative and an unprecedented global approach to the development and use of this powerful emerging technology.”
“Artificial intelligence must be in the public interest; “It must be adopted and refined in a way that protects everyone from potential harm and ensures that everyone can enjoy its benefits,” Harris said in a statement.
At the meeting of world leaders at the General Assembly last September, US President Joe Biden said his country plans to work with competitors around the world to ensure that AI is harnessed “for good while protecting our people.” citizens from this very profound risk.”
Over the past few months, the United States worked with more than 120 countries at the UN — including Russia, China and Cuba — to negotiate the text of the resolution passed Thursday.
“At a time when the world seems to agree on little, perhaps the most quietly radical aspect of this resolution is the broad consensus forged in the name of making progress,” U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the gathering shortly. before the vote.
“The United Nations and artificial intelligence are contemporary, both born in the years after World War II,” he said. “Both have grown and evolved in parallel. Today, at a time when the UN and AI are finally intersecting, we have the opportunity and responsibility to choose as a united global community to govern this technology rather than allow it to govern us.”
At a press conference after the vote, ambassadors from the Bahamas, Japan, the Netherlands, Morocco, Singapore and the United Kingdom enthusiastically endorsed the resolution, joining the American ambassador, who called it “a good day for the United Nations and a good day for multilateralism.”
The resolution aims to close the digital divide between rich developed countries and poorer developing countries, and ensure that everyone is at the table in discussions on AI. It also aims to ensure that developing countries have the technology and capabilities to harness the benefits of AI, including detecting disease, predicting floods, helping farmers and training the next generation of workers.
The resolution recognizes the rapid acceleration in the development and use of AI, and underlines “the urgency of achieving a global consensus on safe and reliable artificial intelligence systems.”
It also recognizes that “governance of AI systems is an evolving area” that needs further discussions on possible governance approaches. And he emphasizes that innovation and regulation are mutually reinforcing, not mutually exclusive.
Big tech companies have generally supported the need to regulate AI, while pushing to ensure the rules work in their favor.
Source: With information from AP
