On Friday, the United Nations Human Rights Council unanimously passed a resolution calling for the international community to take preventive and control measures regarding artificial intelligence.
South Korea, Austria, Brazil, Denmark, Morocco and Singapore jointly brought the resolution.
China and India said they disagreed but did not ask for the resolution to be put to a vote, a resolution countries are unhappy with but do not want to block.
Beijing said the text contained “controversial” elements.
The resolution calls for improving the “transparency” of AI systems and ensuring that data for this technology is “collected, used, shared, stored and deleted” in ways consistent with human rights.
The board has previously looked at emerging technologies as a whole, but for the first time it has taken a closer look at the development of artificial intelligence.
South Korean Ambassador Yoon Seung-duk said the decision emphasized the importance of “ensuring, promoting and protecting human rights throughout the life cycle of artificial intelligence systems”, while her US counterpart Michelle Taylor saw the decision as a “forward-looking” one for the council. .
For his part, Belgian Ambassador Marc Beckstein de Betserve declared on behalf of the European Union, “We fully agree when the resolution emphasizes the need for preventive measures, due diligence and human supervision in relation to artificial intelligence.” It calls for a “cautious approach” to ensure the protection and respect of human rights. In a world where technology is growing rapidly.
Given their great technical complexity, AI systems are as impressive as they are disturbing. If a qualitative leap in disease detection could save lives, it is exploited by authoritarian regimes to exercise collective control over citizens.
United Nations representatives and leaders and experts have recently redoubled calls for regulations to ensure these new technologies do not endanger humanity.
British Ambassador Simon Manley called for “reassurances” on Friday and insisted his country is hosting a summit on artificial intelligence in the fall to “reach agreement on security measures and to assess and monitor important risks related to recent developments”.
“We are deeply concerned about the use of technology to restrict human rights and violate ‘privacy’,” he said.
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