UN wants global AI fund to help developing nations adapt to tech
A UN report said governments and private companies should build a global AI fund that will help developing countries benefit from tech innovations.
According to the UN secretary general’s high-level AI advisory body, the fund would help provide models, computing power, and AI-related training programs.
The Guardian reported that the AI fund would allegedly prevent the Western world from repeating its climate change mistakes with technology.
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“Among other proposals, the U.N. wants a global AI fund to be established, which would address gaps in capacity and collaboration. It also advocates the formation of a global AI data framework to ensure transparency and accountability”
— Gerd Leonhard (@gleonhard) September 23, 2024
UN advisory body makes seven…
Dame Wendy Hall, a member of that advisory body, elaborated on the AI fund’s goals:
“If we don’t address an issue like a global AI fund now, we risk going down the same route as we did with climate change…”
READ: SC eyes use of AI in drafting of decisions
Article continues after this advertisementShe claims developed nations addressed climate change while leaving the global south unable to address the issue. Also, the guardian elaborated on the UN report.
It recommends creating an accessible store of AI models and datasets for building those models. As a result, the AI fund could help achieve the UN’s sustainable development goals.
These include eliminating poverty and providing quality education. Moreover, the report envisions the creation of an international scientific panel on artificial intelligence.
It would issue annual reports on AI-related “capabilities, opportunities, risks, and uncertainties.” Also, the report warns that no global framework governs AI nowadays.
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Alondra Nelson, a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study who served on the UN advisory body, shared a related statement to Wired:
“You’ve got an international community that agrees there are both harms and risks as well as opportunities presented by AI.”
Consequently, powerful groups may impose the technology on people without their consent.
“To place its governance in the hands of a few developers, or countries that host them, will create a deeply unfair situation,” the report says.
It added that the UN can host intergovernmental dialogue to foster common ground on managing artificial intelligence’s impact.
