Seizo Onoe, Director, Standardization Bureau, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), highlights the importance of AI governance, discussing the reasons behind ensuring it benefits society positively
Breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI) are changing how we think about the relationship between humans and machines and creating compelling new opportunities to advance sustainable development.
ITU’s standardisation work on AI
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN agency for digital technologies, prioritises helping everyone benefit from this transformative technology. Our AI for Good Global Summit and its year-round digital platform provide essential support. We created the summit to identify practical applications of AI to tackle the UN Sustainable Development Goals and scale those solutions for global impact.
Part of what underpins this practical approach is our role in the international standard-setting system, which provides guidelines for the development and application of technology. This system enhances technology’s predictability and allows it to work together.
AI is now key to network orchestration, multimedia coding, and optimising the energy and cost efficiency of our networks and data centres. It is also creating new opportunities to advance global progress in areas from climate action and agriculture to disaster response, healthcare, and road safety.
These are just some of the areas addressed by ITU’s standardisation work on AI. We have published over 100 standards on AI, and over 150 are currently under development. These numbers are always on the rise.
The wide range of opportunities to benefit from AI highlights why ITU is so invested in building bridges between different areas of expertise.
Confidence in AI’s potential to support sustainable development stems not only from technical breakthroughs, but also from new connections among AI specialists, AI users, data owners, and experts in domains where AI could contribute decisively to sustainable development.
ITU is stimulating these connections with the support of our AI for Good initiative, diverse membership, partner UN agencies and standards bodies, and the over 37,000 professionals now part of our AI for Good Neural Network.
AI: Protecting public trust
While AI is revolutionising how society tackles challenges and opportunities, the risks must also be considered. If left unchecked, the spread of misinformation, the rise of AI-generated deepfakes, and the persistence of biases could erode public trust. Climate impacts and the effect of AI on employment are also cause for concern. These are just some of the challenges posed by AI, and there is growing pressure on governments to take action.
From China to India to the United States, governments have stepped up to consider how to start regulating AI. The new EU AI Act has just come into force.
In addition to the G7 Hiroshima AI Process, countries have organised a number of AI-focused conferences, including last year’s UK Safety Summit and the Seoul Safety Summit. This fast regulatory response shows that governments are motivated to build a safe AI future.
At the AI for Good Global Summit, government leaders, policymakers, researchers, and technologists came together at the first-ever” AI Governance Day – From Principles to Implementation” on 29 May 2024. This UN event focused on moving from principles to practical AI governance frameworks.
A new report summarises the key insights and recommendations from the policy discussions, aiming to guide stakeholders in developing effective AI governance strategies. Amidst much regulatory evolution, a gap has emerged between regulation and the current state of technology and tools for monitoring and controlling AI systems. This gap poses significant risks and underscores the need for advancing tools to ensure effective AI governance.
Countries seeking to establish AI governance frameworks
Most countries still need AI legislation in place. However, countries can leverage the UN system processes to support their AI governance efforts. The Inter-Agency Working Group on Artificial Intelligence, under the leadership of UNESCO and ITU, released a White Paper Analysing the UN system’s institutional models, functions, and existing international normative frameworks applicable to global AI governance.
As countries look to establish governance frameworks, I believe they must centre on three core principles.
First, global rulemaking processes need to be inclusive and equitable. AI governance efforts must account for the needs of all countries, not just the technologically advanced nations undertaking regulatory actions now. How can the 2.6 billion people who are currently offline around the world benefit from the AI revolution if they are not even part of the broader digital revolution?
Second, AI needs to be safe, secure, free from bias, and respectful of our privacy. We also need to ensure transparency and accountability from those who provide AI systems and solutions.
Third, we must strike the right balance between risks and benefits to ensure responsible development, deployment, and use of AI.
Ensure AI is genuinely used as a force for good
With the regulatory landscape still in its infancy, we have a chance to conduct the broad outreach necessary to ensure that every country is counted, regardless of its progress on AI. Through our efforts, we need to move closer together to a global agreement on how to ensure AI is genuinely used as a force for good for everyone.
