Rapid Spread of AI May Worsen Global Inequality, UN Warns

Panel proses shared framework for responsible AI development as adoption grows unevenly across world.

A new United Nations report warns that the development of artificial intelligence may exacerbate global inequality and proposes a shared framework for how to responsibly develop AI, as adoption and investment into the technology accelerates unevenly across the world.

“The more AI advances without shared rules, the less say governments and people will have in the outcome,” said António Guterres, the UN secretary general, at a press conference on Wednesday. “Our message to governments is simple: do not wait … the science is here. We can no longer say we did not know what we do.”

The sweeping analysis from the independent international scientific panel on AI, established by the UN general assembly last year as “the first global scientific body on AI”, details AI’s risks and opportunities – from transformative capabilities in agriculture and education, to catastrophic outcomes when bad actors deploy AI to commit fraud and influence elections.

“Access to AI tools alone does not produce equal benefit,” the report states. “Countries that rely on foreign models, cloud infrastructure and data pipelines may gain access to AI while losing practical control over its standards, safeguards and local fit.”

At the press conference, co-chair of the panel, journalist Maria Ressa stressed that AI’s “pace is not slowing, the power is concentrating, and control is not guaranteed.” The report dropped one week before the UN hosts the inaugural global dialogue on AI governance for governments and experts.

The preliminary report also functions as a toolkit, offering initial, broad guidance to UN member states on ways to capitalize on AI’s potential for growth across industries, while minimizing and addressing threats. Suggestions include developing local AI infrastructure, such as datacenters, improving AI literacy in schools and the workforce, investing in developers, building AI safety institutes, creating strategies to combat disinformation and continuously measuring how AI systems behave after release, “with real users, real tasks and real environments”.

- Author: Sanya Mansoor, The Guardian