The UN Security Council holds a meeting on Artificial intelligence at UN headquarters in New York City, US, July 18, 2023. (Reuters)
Metropolis Desk-
Tuesday marked the first meeting of the UN Security Council on artificial intelligence, during which China urged caution lest the technology turns into a “runaway horse” while the United States spoke out against its application to censorship or oppression of individuals.
AI would “fundamentally alter every aspect of human life,” according to British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, who presided over the summit while Britain held the organization’s leadership in July.
He noted that AI might aid in addressing climate change and boosting economies, and added that “we urgently need to shape the global governance of transformative technologies because AI knows no borders.” But he also issued a warning, pointing out that the technology feeds misinformation and might help both state-sponsored and non-state actors in their search for weapons.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Jack Clark, co-founder of well-known AI firm Anthropic, and Professor Zeng Yi, co-director of the China-UK Research Center for AI Ethics and Governance, informed the 15 members of the council.
AI applications, both military and non-military, “could have very serious consequences for international peace and security,” Guterres said.
Guterres supports requests from several nations to establish a new UN entity “to support collective efforts to govern this extraordinary technology,” modeled like the International Atomic Energy Agency, the International Civil Aviation Organization, or the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Zhang Jun, China’s ambassador to the UN, referred to artificial intelligence as a “double-edged sword” and stated that Beijing supports the UN’s major coordination role in formulating AI guiding principles.
“Whether it is good or bad depends on how mankind utilizes it, regulates it, and how we balance scientific development with security,” Zhang said. He said that a focus on people and AI for good should be made to limit development and “prevent this technology from becoming a runaway horse.”
To address vulnerabilities to human rights that could jeopardize peace and security, countries must collaborate on AI and other emerging technologies, according to Jeffrey DeLaurentis, the deputy US ambassador to the UN.
“No member states should use AI to censor, constrain, repress, or disempower people,” he warned the council.
Russia questioned whether the council, which is in charge of preserving world peace and security, ought to be talking about AI.
Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia’s deputy UN ambassador, said: “What is required is a professional, scientific, expertise-based discussion that can take several years and this discussion is already underway at specialized platforms.”
Source- Arab News
