UN Adopts First Global AI Resolution, Urges Nations To Protect Human Rights & Personal Data

New Delhi: The United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted the first global resolution on artificial intelligence on Thursday, urging nations to safeguard human rights, protect personal data, and monitor AI for potential risks.

The nonbinding resolution, proposed by the United States and supported by China along with over 120 other nations, also calls for the strengthening of privacy policies.

“Today, all 193 members of the United Nations General Assembly have spoken in one voice, and together, chosen to govern artificial intelligence rather than let it govern us,” US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield said.

The resolution represents the most recent in a series of initiatives, few of which have substantial enforcement power, undertaken by governments worldwide to influence the development of AI amidst concerns that it could potentially disrupt democratic processes, turbocharge fraud, or result in significant job losses, among other potential harms.

“The improper or malicious design, development, deployment and use of artificial intelligence systems … pose risks that could … undercut the protection, promotion and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms,” the measure says.

In November, countries like the US, Britain and more than a dozen others unveiled the first detailed international agreement on how to keep artificial intelligence safe from rogue actors, pushing for companies to create AI systems that are “secure by design.”

With EU lawmakers adopting a provisional agreement this month to oversee the technology, the country is ahead of the United States where the Biden administration has been pressing lawmakers for an AI regulation, but a polarized US Congress has made little headway. The White House, meanwhile, sought to reduce AI risks to consumers, workers, and minorities while bolstering national security with a new executive order in October.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said it took nearly four months to negotiate the resolution, but that it gave the world “a baseline set of principles to guide next steps in AI’s development and use.”

Senior administration officials said there were “lots of heated conversations,” but the administration actively engaged with countries with which it has different views, when asked whether negotiators faced resistance from Russia or China. The Chinese and Russian officials are eagerly exploring the use of AI tools for a variety of purposes like other governments around the world.

Microsoft, last month, said that it had caught hackers from both the countries using Microsoft-backed OpenAI software to hone their espionage skills.

China, in response to the Microsoft report, said it opposes to what it called groundless accusations, while Russia did not respond to a request for comment