U.S Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas Greenfield and Moroccan Ambassador to the UN Omar Hilale jointly presented the first ever draft UN resolution on artificial intelligence during a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York on Thursday.
Entitled “Seizing the Opportunities of Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence Systems for Sustainable Development,” the resolution, jointly introduced by the United States and Morocco, seeks to promote safe, secure, and trustworthy AI systems to address global issues such as poverty eradication, healthcare, food security, climate change, energy, and education.
Ambassadors and representatives from 50 UN member-states attended the press conference.
“We are resolved to bridge the artificial intelligence and other digital divides between and within countries through capacity building, increasing digital literacy, and other actions,” the US Mission to the UN stated in a press release.
The proposal provides for a human-centric approach to AI, highlighting reliability, “explainability”, ethics, inclusion, privacy, and responsibility, all while upholding human rights and international law.
Ambassador Hilale applauded the United States for its leadership in this endeavor and highlighted the importance of UN member-states participating “to ensure that AI serves the common good.”
He reiterated Morocco’s position on using AI to redress social, digital, and economic gaps between developed and under-developed countries.
Hilale noted the potential benefits of AI for African countries in sectors such as health, agriculture, education, climate action, and economic growth, and the importance of investing in AI research and infrastructure to eradicate the digital gap around the world.
The UN General Assembly is scheduled to vote on the resolution on March 21.