UN Security Council to initiate formal dialog on AI risks

Date: July 19, 2023

Britain is seeking a leadership role in creating adequate regulations around the development of Artificial Intelligence and will facilitate its first dialog held by the UN Security Council this month.

Artificial Intelligence has existed among us as a concept for over 30 years with the first AI machine built in 1951 to master the game of checkers. However, today’s scenario of AI is not as simple as finding the best ways to win the game of checkers.

Since 2020, Artificial Intelligence is in an aggressive development phase with early products getting viral too soon, without any monitoring, thanks to the free nature of OpenAI. Several leaders have raised concerns over the dangers of building an autonomous system that can think on its own. 

Even several governments around the world have identified the growing risks of combining artificial intelligence with the internet ranging from changing the global economy landscape to gaining access to the nuclear codes of the first world countries.

The United Nations security council has finally taken the first steps to address this issue by holding a formal discussion on the risks of AI and its impact on global harmony and pro-human nature.

Britain will be holding this month’s holding presidency where the formal dialog will happen. The discussion will be held on Tuesday, chaired by British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.

In June, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres suggested the formation of an autonomous body that will act as an Artificial Intelligence watchdog, similar to an already existing body like International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The development of AI will surely bring unseen benefits to businesses, daily consumers and world leaders. But if left unchecked, the potential it holds can quickly turn the table around into a complete economic collapse as well. 

This UN Council meeting is a long awaited initial step to make the development of Artificial Intelligence safer for the public as well as the global entities working to serve the public’s interest.