Artificial Intelligence if left unchecked could pose a serious danger to democracy and peace, the United Nations has warned.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made the comments as a panel of experts warned of the dangers of increasingly realistic deepfakes as well as the evolution of autonomous weapons and AI use by criminal and terrorist groups.
The group called for greater global collaboration on the technology and said its development should not be left to market forces.
The panel of around 40 experts from the fields of technology, law and data protection was established by Guterres in October.
Their report raised the alarm over the lack of global governance of AI as well as the effective exclusion of developing countries from debates about the technology’s future.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres makes statements to journalists ahead of the ‘Summit of the Future’ on September 18
Of the UN’s 193 members, just seven are part of the seven major initiatives linked to AI, while 118 are entirely absent – mostly nations of the global south.
‘There is, today, a global governance deficit with respect to AI,’ which by its nature is cross-border, the experts warn in their report.
‘AI must serve humanity equitably and safely,’ Guterres said this week.
‘Left unchecked, the dangers posed by artificial intelligence could have serious implications for democracy, peace, and stability.’
To the backdrop of his clarion call, the experts called on UN members to put in place mechanisms to grease the wheels of global cooperation on the issue, as well as to prevent unintended proliferation.
‘The development, deployment and use of such a technology cannot be left to the whims of markets alone,’ the report says.
It called firstly for the creation of a group of scientific experts on AI modeled on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) forum of experts, whose reports are the last word on the issue of climate change.
The panel would brief the international community on emerging risks, identify research needs as well as how it could be used to alleviate hunger, poverty, and gender inequality, among other goals.
The report raised the alarm over the lack of global governance of AI as well as the effective exclusion of developing countries from debates about the technology’s future (stock photo)
That proposal is included in the draft Global Digital Compact, still under discussion, which is due to be adopted Sunday at the ‘Summit of the Future.’
The report endorses setting up a light-touch ‘coordination’ structure within the UN secretariat.
But it stops short of a fully-fledged international governance body – like that sought by Guterres – based on the model of the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the IAEA.
‘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,’ the report said.
The authors acknowledge that owing to the warp speed of change in AI, it would be pointless to attempt to draw up a comprehensive list of dangers presented by the ever-evolving technology.
But they singled out the perils of disinformation for democracy, increasingly realistic deepfakes – particularly pornographic ones, as well as the evolution of autonomous weapons and AI use by criminal and terrorist groups.
‘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,’ the report said.
‘Continued scientific assessments and policy dialogue would ensure that the world is not surprised.’
