WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Can artificial intelligence benefit all of humanity - safely, fairly and without causing 'catastrophic harm'? That is the question at the heart of a major UN summit opening in Geneva on Monday.
Governments, tech companies, academics and civil society will spend two days at the Global Dialogue on AI Governance wrestling with how to regulate a technology that is evolving faster than the rules meant to contain it.
AI, if used responsibly, could bring transformational benefits to people across the world, but there are also fears the revolutionary technology is creating new dangers; And while it continues to evolve at a lightning pace, the safeguards needed to regulate it are struggling to keep up.
The UN's Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence recently published a report on the opportunities and risks of AI.
Yoshua Bengio, who was one of the two co-chairs of the UN's Scientific Panel, told UN News that With growing evidence of deceptive AI behaviour, science currently cannot guarantee that as capabilities continue to increase, AI will not cause catastrophic harm, either on its own or due to malicious users.
Rein Tammsaar, who is one of the two co-chairs of the UN Global Dialogue on AI, said, 'AI is a tool that millions of people around the world can benefit from. But at the same time, if it gets into the wrong hands, it could also be used for coercive purposes, to erode trust in governments, undermine democratic structures, and for propaganda and against information integrity'.
He added that the frontier developers of AI are basically concentrated in two countries - US and China - and this leaves other countries with a lot of questions.
'Developing countries, in particular, are worried that in the worst-case scenario, the AI divide would leave them behind. Its development is unfolding with such a speed that they may not be able to recover and to catch up'.
According to Maria Ressa, who was a co-chair of the Scientific Panel, called AI an 'information Armageddon'. 'The first generation of AI was used in social media, and that pushed lies faster. If it's laced with fear, anger and hate, it spreads virally. Information integrity is the core of the battle. If you can't tell fact from fiction, you cannot have a democracy. This is the dilemma we face, and it's the reason I call it an 'information Armageddon'.'
Egriselda López, who is the co-chair of The Global Dialogue, said it is the first platform in the United Nations for the discussion of AI governance. 'It's also an opportunity for Member States to come together to have an inclusive discussion; But not only governments, it's also about bringing together different stakeholders'.
The Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence is made up of 40 experts from every region of the world serving in their personal capacity. The Panel published its first report on July 1.
The Panel's work feeds into the UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance which is taking place in Geneva during July 6-7, when the international community will discuss international approaches to managing the technology.
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