Humanity is in a race against time to learn how to harness artificial intelligence for the common good while avoiding the terrible risks it poses, a senior UN official and experts said Thursday.
“We let the genie out of the bottle”said Doreen Bogdan-Martin, director of the United Nations International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
“We are in a race against time”she said at the opening of a two-day global summit titled « AI for Good » (artificial intelligence for good) in Geneva.
“Recent developments in AI are simply extraordinary”she admitted.
Doreen Bogdan-Martin, director of the United Nations International Telecommunications Union (ITU), March 7, 2024 in Geneva / Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP/Archives
Thousands of conference attendees learned that advances in generative AI are already accelerating efforts to solve some of the planet’s most pressing problems, such as climate change, hunger and welfare.
“I think we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to put AI to work for everyone on the planet.”declared Ms. Bogdan-Martin in an email sent to AFP before the summit.
But she lamented Thursday that a third of humanity still remains completely disconnected and is “excluded from the AI revolution without being able to express themselves”. “This digital and technological divide is no longer acceptable”she emphasizes.
Concentrated power
Ms. Bogdan-Martin emphasized that AI contains “immense potential, both for good and for evil”and that it is essential to “secure AI systems”.
The image of a brain on a screen during the AI for Good Global Summit of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in Geneva, May 30, 2024 in Switzerland / Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP
She said this was particularly important today, given that “2024 is the biggest election year in history,” with votes in dozens of countries, including the United States.
Or, “with the rise of sophisticated ‘deep fake’ type disinformation campaigns, it is also the most controversial year”she added.
“Not only does this misuse of AI threaten democracy, it also endangers the mental health of young people and compromises cybersecurity”warns this official.
In a speech at another AI governance event this week, the ITU chief warned that “the power of AI is concentrated in the hands of too few”.
“It is risky and ethically fragile to be in this kind of position for humanity”she said.
Other experts present at the conference agreed.
The realistic robot “Ai-Da” (g) using artificial intelligence presented at the AI for Good Global Summit of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in Geneva, May 30, 2024 in Switzerland / Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP
“We need to understand where we are heading”said Tristan Harris, a technology ethicist who co-founded the Center for Humane Technology.
He recalled the lessons learned from social media, which was initially presented as a way to connect people and give everyone a voice, but which also spawned addiction, viral misinformation, online harassment and an explosion in mental health problems among adolescents. .
– ” Super powers “ –
While AI can benefit humanity in many ways, Harris warned that the incentives driving companies to deploy the technology risk greatly increasing these negative effects.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (r) on a giant screen during a panel with Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) AI for Good Global Summit ), in Geneva, May 30, 2024 in Switzerland / Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP
“The main motivation for Open AI or Google’s behavior is the race for market domination”did he declare.
In such a world, he added, “governance that evolves at the speed of technology” is vital.
Azeem Azhar, founder of Exponential View, also highlighted the need for a much stronger institutional response “to ensure that AI gives people superpowers rather than being seen as a tool to replace them”.
Mr Bogdan-Martin welcomed the fact that governments and other actors have recently “eager to establish protections” and regulations regarding the use of AI.
For example, the European Union announced on Wednesday the creation of an AI office to regulate artificial intelligence under a new law.
“It is our responsibility to write the next chapter in the great story of humanity and technology, to make it safe, to make it inclusive and to make it sustainable”said M. Bogdan-Martin.
