New UN panel to weigh benefits, risks of artificial intelligence

NEW YORK (Kyodo) — U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres launched an advisory body of experts Thursday to discuss the benefits and risks of artificial intelligence as well as how the world can better control it.

The group of 39 specialists, including a political analyst and anthropologist, will publish a set of recommendations by the summer of 2024 through an interim report due at the end of this year.

Guterres told a press conference at the U.N. headquarters in New York that AI “could supercharge climate action and efforts to achieve” sustainable development goals by 2030.

The secretary general also mentioned the need for the new panel to address the problems of AI-assisted misinformation and disinformation, invasion of privacy and human rights violations.

The advisory body has two Japanese members, Arisa Ema, associate professor at the Institute for Future Initiatives at the University of Tokyo, and Hiroaki Kitano, chief technology officer of Sony Group Corp.

The chief of the world body came up with the idea after the Security Council considered the importance of international cooperation in the management of AI-related risks during the first meeting on the matter in July.

Britain plans to host a summit to discuss AI-related technologies in November while Guterres has backed the idea of launching an international organization to oversee AI.