The brain inside the light bulb symbolizes innovation. In a car without a steering wheel? “The Godfather” AI warns the world of danger Culture and education
If artificial intelligence is “a very fast car without a steering wheel,” then regulation of the field of AI should be precisely that steering wheel, says Nobel Prize laureate and one of the first artificial intelligence researchers Geoffrey Hinton, a scientist called the “godfather” of self-learning technologies.
The car needs a steering wheel
Speaking at the Digital World: Artificial Intelligence for Social Development World Conference, organized with the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, Professor Hinton stressed that the rapid development of AI requires greater regulation to ensure that it serves society rather than undermines it. on the descent. But it’s even worse if the car has no steering wheel at all,” he said. This week, governments and UN expert groups are holding discussions on the principles of AI governance and risk mitigation as the tool becomes increasingly integrated into the global economy and public life.
Rapid development
The pace of development of artificial intelligence is amazing. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Technology and Innovation 2025 report, the global artificial intelligence market will grow from $189 billion in 2023 to $4.8 trillion by 2033. In fact, in one decade, an economy larger than that of Japan will be created.
Growing inequality
However, only a few countries and companies can still determine the development of this area, said UNCTAD Deputy Secretary-General Pedro Manuel Moreno, speaking at a session of the UN Commission on Science and Technology technique, which also takes place this week.
This concern is echoed by Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union, who noted that the adoption of generative artificial intelligence in industrialized countries in the “global North” is occurring at almost twice the rate in developing countries in the “global South.” “If left unaddressed, this will create another huge rift, widening the gap between countries that form artificial intelligence, and those who only enjoy its fruits,” she said. The expert also added that no single country or organization can fill existing gaps in infrastructure and investment alone.The intensification of international activity in the field of artificial intelligence and digital technologies this week in Geneva reflects the global community’s desire to ensure that all countries can benefit from the development of AI and develop mechanisms for regulating it as it increasingly affects the economy, society and everyday life. labor market, education and the green energy transition.
A data-driven approach
The UN Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence was established at the UN to review existing research on the opportunities and risks associated with AI. Its tasks include developing data-based recommendations in the field of AI regulation. The group held its first in-person meeting in Madrid on Wednesday.
Opening the meeting, the group’s co-chair, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Filipino journalist Maria Ressa, said the group’s mandate is to produce an independent, scientific and authoritative assessment of how AI systems are impacting society.
Ressa also warned that increasingly powerful artificial intelligence tools are accelerating the erosion of democratic systems through a “narrative war” in which false information is created and disseminated on a mass scale, weakening such institutions such as the media and courts.
The group’s findings will inform discussions at another key UN initiative on artificial intelligence, the Global Dialogue on the Governance of Artificial Intelligence, which will be held in Geneva in July.
Global discussion
The global dialogue will bring together all 193 UN member states, representatives of the private sector, civil society, academia and the technology industry to exchange experiences and develop common approaches to the management of artificial intelligence. UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Digital and Emerging Technologies Amandeep Gill. “This is how policy discussions should happen, and the UN is proud to facilitate this first-of-its-kind convergence of science and policy on rapidly evolving new technologies.”