The United States is leading a push for safe, secure, and trustworthy artificial intelligence
(AI) through the United Nations’ first-ever AI resolution.
The resolution, presented by Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, was co-sponsored by over 50 other countries, including Germany, Singapore, France, Israel, Argentina, South Korea, and the European Union.
According to unnamed sources, the U.S. has negotiated with 193 UN members for over three months and accepted input from 120 nations. Thomas-Greenfield revealed in December that the U.S. would take the push to the General Assembly, not the smaller Security Council, as it wanted to involve all members, not just the major powers.
The resolution calls on member states to push for the deployment of AI to address global challenges such as poverty, food security, energy, climate, and health, all of which are part of the UN’s 2030 development goals.
The resolution also “establishes a shared vision that AI systems should be human-centric, reliable, explainable, ethical, inclusive, privacy-preserving, and responsible, with a sustainable development orientation, and in full respect, promotion, and protection of human rights and international law.”
In a statement to media outlets, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan noted that the resolution is meant to spark a “truly global conversation” on AI. It establishes a global set of principles under which countries can leverage AI while managing the risks.
In support of the resolution, Morocco’s permanent representative to the UN, Ambassador Omar Hilale, said the Northern African nation was involved from the start and made its contribution to the final document.
He stressed the need to leverage AI to “bridge the social, digital, and economic divides between developed and developing countries. AI offers many potential benefits to developing countries, especially African countries, in various areas.”
Unlike those at the smaller and more powerful Security Council, a resolution at the General Assembly is not legally binding to the members. While members are expected to abide by these resolutions broadly, there are no direct repercussions for members who fail to.
This puts the U.S.-led resolution on the same level as several other initiatives by the Biden government that call for safe and responsible AI development but have no legal bite.
Last year, the seven leading AI developers in the U.S., including Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL), OpenAI, and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), signed a voluntary memorandum to push safe AI. This has done little to inform their conduct, with these three all facing lawsuits for illegal data scrapping and copyright infringement.
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