Ethics in Artificial Intelligence: One step closer to adoption of UNESCO Recommendation

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After months of constructive dialogue and consultation, representatives from UNESCO’s Member States have agreed on an ambitious and wide-ranging draft new template for the ethical development and use of artificial intelligence.

In the run-up to UNESCO’s November General Conference, ethical changes in artificial intelligence are gathering momentum. The recommendation will be submitted to UNESCO Member States for adoption at the General Conference. It will establish a global framework to ensure that digital transformation promotes human rights and contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. It will address issues of transparency, accountability and privacy, contain action-oriented policy chapters on data management, education, culture, healthcare and the economy, and provide governments and policymakers with a global framework for regulating AI.

Once passed, leaders around the world will have a common reference point on how to manage risk and channel these new technologies as a force for good. Artificial intelligence has the potential to radically reduce inequality, promote diversity and benefit all humanity.

——Audrey Azoulay (Director-General of UNESCO)

While AI technology has extraordinary value and potential for social and economic development, AI also poses complex and unique challenges to policymakers. Artificial intelligence raises serious concerns about bias, stereotypes and discrimination. Increasingly, decisions in the public and private sectors are based on analysis generated by artificial intelligence. UNESCO therefore calls for artificial intelligence to be developed in a way that ensures fair outcomes.

The recommendations will include provisions to ensure that real-world biases are not replicated in virtual spaces and provide concrete policy actions based on universal values ​​and principles. It will also ask UNESCO to analyze each country’s level of advancement in the field of artificial intelligence in order to assist them in the implementation phase.

24 renowned experts from around the world participated in the elaboration of the text, ensuring that the Recommendation is broad, comprehensive and diverse. The Recommendation was developed through a global consultation process that included diverse voices from different stakeholder groups around the world.

UNESCO will cooperate fully with Member States and partners to ensure that the Recommendation’s promise to provide a strong ethical basis for artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity is fulfilled.

The "Artificial Intelligence Ethics Recommendation" will become a blueprint for global consensus on the content and methods of ethical supervision of this new world-changing technology. UNESCO stands ready to assist governments and other stakeholders in developing their capacity to respond to challenges, including through ethical impact assessments.

——Gabriela Ramos (Assistant Director-General of the Social Sciences and Humanities Sector of UNESCO)

Media Contact:

Clare O'Hagan

33 145 68 17 29

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Media:

Clare O'Hagan:

33 145 68 17 29