The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres expressed his support for the creation of an artificial intelligence organization (AI) similar to the International Atomic Energy Agency on Monday 12 June.
“I intend to create a high -level advisory body on artificial intelligence to seriously prepare for the different kinds of initiatives that we can take (…) I would be in favor of the idea that we can have (…) an agency which, I would say, is inspired by what is today the International Atomic Energy Agency,” said Guterres at a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York.
For her part, Audrey Azoulay, Director General of the United Nations Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO), believes that this technology poses enormous ethical challenges.
“How can we make sure that algorithms do not prevent fundamental human rights-ranging from privacy to data confidentiality through freedom of choice and freedom of conscience? Can freedom of action be guaranteed when our desires are anticipated and guided? How can we make sure that social and cultural stereotypes are not reproduced in artificial intelligence programming, in particular with regard to gender discrimination? Can these circuits be reproduced? Can the values be programmed, and by whom? Who is responsible when decisions and actions are fully automated? How can we be sure that no one, wherever it is in the world, is deprived of the benefits of these technologies? How can we ensure that AI is developed in a transparent way, so that the citizens of the world, whose life is affected, have their say in its development? She wondered.
