Eight tech companies commit to building “more ethical” AI with the UN

Eight global technology companies, including Microsoft and Mastercard, pledged Monday at a forum in Slovenia to build “more ethical” AI, in line with UNESCO’s framework of principles.

This agreement comes after UNESCO adopted its Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in 2021, which is based on “the promotion and protection of human rights, human dignity and the guarantee of diversity and inclusion”.

The other six signatory companies were the GSMA, Lenovo Group, INNIT, LG AI Research, Salesforce and Telefonica.

The companies agreed to integrate the values ​​and principles of the UNESCO 2021 framework “when designing and deploying AI systems,” according to a statement.

The agreement requires signatories to “guarantee human rights in the design, development, buying, selling and use of AI.”

He also calls on them to exercise due diligence in order to “respond to the safety standards and identify the harmful effects of AI” while aiming to prevent and mitigate them.

“This alliance of the public and private sectors is essential to developing AI for the common good,” UNESCO head Audrey Azoulay said in a statement.

Following 2021 ethical framework on the use of AI, “today we take another major step by obtaining the same concrete commitment from global technology companies,” she added.

Monday’s agreement between the UN body and the eight technology companies was signed in the Slovenian town of Kranj during the second UNESCO Global AI Forum.

Even though the EU lacks powerful AI companies, the bloc has recently accelerated the pace of regulating the technology in response to rapid progress.

© 2024 AFP