UN Geneva - Multimedia Newsroom : Office of the Secretary-General's Envoy on Technology

all right. Good morning.

I'm so sorry, everyone, for the brief delay to get started with this press briefing.

I'm Isabel de

Sola.

I'm part of the office of the UN Secretary

General's Envoy for Technology based here in Geneva.

And I'm delighted to present our esteemed guests this morning for a 45

minute or 40 minute briefing on the process and the early conclusions

of the Secretary General's high level advisory body on artificial intelligence.

I'm joined here by Carme

Ortigas,

who is co chair of the advisory body and

formerly Secretary of State for Digitalization of Spain.

And, uh, to her right is Edina Musa Doctor

Sina Musa, who is a lecturer

at uh Sheikh Hamid

Khan Digital University in Senegal.

And, uh,

we have perhaps 20 minutes of remarks from our guests followed by your questions?

No. Is that correct? Shorter.

Well, we'll see how much time we have And again,

Apologies for the late start over to Carme.

Thank you very much, Isabel, for introduction.

So Good morning. We are delighted to be here with you today.

Um I'm joined here in person

by, uh

Cina Musa

Uh

Yai

and it is a plea

pleasure for us to be back to Geneva.

This beautiful city which we last saw during, uh, winter.

Uh,

that has contributed in a great deal to our thinking as we had a

se a second here in person meeting of the A I advisory body.

We had our second in person meeting here in March,

where we met and we consulted,

especially with many relevant UN agencies who

have their own specialised knowledge and expertise

in the nexus of artificial intelligence and development, human rights, health,

intellectual property, technology, standards, peace, security

and meteorology. That's the type of UN agencies we met in person last March,

and a lot has progressed since.

And we're pleased to briefly share with you the

progress of the advisory body and our plans,

uh, for the final report, which is scheduled to be released in mid September

and answer any questions you may have on this process.

Those who wish to have access to the report in advance and the embargo

please give your contact information to our

colleagues from the Secretariat to Isabel,

and she will share, um,

and we'll be able to share the final report sometime next week.

So the

is that if you want to have access to the report in advance and under embargo,

you should ask Isabel.

So now I will hand over my fellow member

Cinna,

to introduce the work of the body and its progress up to date. Thank you so much.

Cinna

for

is yours.

Thank you, Carmen. Hi, everyone.

the high level advisory body is comprised of, um uh,

39 members, uh, across all R one sectors,

Uh, 33 nationalities from all regions.

Um, and it is a gender balance.

We were selected from over 1.8 no

1000 nominations,

including self nominations. We are multi stake, order,

multidisciplinary and diverse,

which gives us a unique perspectives to

questions of international A i governance.

As the body has gone through a rigorous timeline over the past nine months,

we listen to stakeholders at numerous A i events.

We met three times in person

in

New York, Geneva, and, um,

and Singapore here in Geneva in March,

we visited many relevant UN agencies and diplomatic missions.

Uh, released. We released an interim report in December last December

and the final report to be released for the public in Mid-september.

Our interim report generated much feedback from across all regions.

We got, um 2, 250 plus written input from 150 plus organisation

and more than 100 individuals.

Um, we did a risk PP

check horizon scan of 350 experts,

Uh, we did, uh, 16 deep dives, bringing together over 300 experts.

Uh, we did more than we analysed more than 100 papers and did more than 50

consultations.

And all of these which

have

been incorporated into our final report.

Uh, the report will be launched on

19 September.

As our question Carmen

mentioned, if you would like to have early access to the report

on the embargo, please share your contacts with our colleagues.

Isabel, Carmen, back to you.

Thank you so much, Serena.

I think the importance of this report comes from the awareness that

there have been a lot of international A i governance efforts,

but have really increased since the launch of

last October 22nd. So what we have seen is that

while there were,

like a lot of international efforts but three initiatives per year, for example,

before

just in 2023 we have seen six global initiatives around

governments.

And just the first half of 2024

we have, uh, found seven.

So there's a lot of, um, awareness and interest, uh,

on different A i international initiatives.

But what we have witnessed and we have assessed during our work in the in the H lab

is that

even though there are a lot of initiatives today, no,

neither of these initiatives is globally inclusive.

So exist

existing initiatives tend to support

the status quo,

which excludes many states from the decision making process,

especially those states in the global south.

So this correlates with the feedback we receive throughout various deep dives.

We have got into a depth into 18 the dives

at the approach since impact of a I in Children,

education in peace in health

and we have had consultations across different regions.

Online submissions confirmed that the global governance

deficit described in our interim report.

So there is a government governance deficit on a I

that requires that we have a globally inclusive approach.

So we see several

advantages on addressing a governance issues at the global level,

and basically I would summarise them into three

equity

effectiveness

and efficiency

in terms of equity.

We need a whole of humanity,

inclusive governments that we can approach the

implications and demands at the global level.

So there is a need for a new social

contract in order to share both the benefits and burdens

in line with human rights.

And we want to have a side type of governance that enables local experimentation,

adaptation, autonomy, ownership

and that everybody can harness a I opportunities which are huge.

Then, in terms of effectiveness,

there is a lack of transparency in information flows also in knowledge,

pooling and learning,

because that is where we need to include also non like minded countries.

We need to enable soft co

ordination between plurilateral and regional initiatives

and to advert and safe race dynamics such as the race to bottom and safety,

scope of use, etc.

As well as we need to empower cross

border interoperability in a governance and standards.

In terms of efficiency, we need a global approach of a governance

to be able to network existing organisation efforts

and drowning on existing and pre existing commitments.

So

in our final report,

we make not one but seven recommendations based on these observations.

Through these recommendations, we suggest that the UN complements

existing multilateral initiatives and offers a stable and reliable,

inclusive home for issues that cannot be handled

just only among a subset of countries,

a subset of companies or specific domains of UN organisations.

So based on this preliminary,

um, conclusions, I would just, um,

open the floor to questions that would be moderated by Isabel.

Thank you so much.

Wonderful. Thank you both.

Um, just a a quick correction. We have until 1025 for Q and a

If you'd like to ask a question, you can use the chat or raise your hand.

I don't see any hands raised at the moment, I think,

Um, but perhaps here in the room, we'll have someone break the ice.

Is are you from Associated Press? OK, super. Thank you.

Hi. I'm Jamie from Associated Press.

So you mentioned the seven,

a I, uh,

no.

And what you

heard.

So,

the the, um

And then you said it. Take the other one. Take here.

Is this working?

It should be red. You know,

Maybe you can ask your question and I'll repeat it.

Exactly. I I can repeat the question just until we fix the

the

comprehensive

what ultimately can the United Nations do to ensure that there

is some sort of global governance that standards that countries will actually

not simply

have it as sort of a guide book?

Um

and, um

and and And I guess the other question is about, um,

about fears about a I There are a lot of, uh, uh,

workers in particular who are worried about the impact of a I

are you gonna address? Uh, those issues?

Let me repeat those two questions. Sorry. Thank you.

Let's take a few. Maybe. Let's see how, um, how everybody's feeling. It's the rre

here in Geneva.

It's the

rre. So everyone's getting back into the swing of things and the technology.

But we had two very good questions to kick us off from, uh,

Jamie of The Associated Press.

So first is if there is a global governance deficit gap on a I,

what could the UN S value add be?

And what is the scope for the UN to ensure that there's

enforceability of some of the principles and guidelines that already exist?

And a second question which touches on fears and anxieties around a I at the moment

in the workplace

for creators and workers.

I don't see other hands at the moment. Oh, yes. Um,

let's start with that.

First of all,

thank you.

Yes. So I'm going to answer the first question,

so thank you so much. I mean, you are really touching the very interesting point.

As you know, in the interim report, we approach

the reason why do we need a global governance

and what should be governance In the final report,

we are going to say how

so, Really,

the final conclusions cannot be shared before

the before the final report is issued.

But it is important to say why do we think

U is the right place to host all these initiatives?

And our conclusion is that the U is the

only organisation that has a really proven track record

on addressing issues on global governance in many other

aspects and we see that is what we needed.

These days there are a lot of initiatives.

The A I talk is very complex, is horizontal. It affects all sectors.

Most of the tools have dual use.

There are a lot of issues around safety but also human rights.

And this is why we think there is an important global deficit

that has not been addressed and it is not being addressed,

but the existing international initiatives, not even but the excellent

work that the UN agencies do, which is very specific on certain domains.

But because this is horizontal, this effort should be co ordinated

and we are proposing more holistic approach.

And I think that's where we see the UN having this umbrella role,

to ensure that that there is efficient in the

location of resources that is coordinations and not overlaps,

and that we that we for the first time gathered together private sector academia,

uh, researchers

and governments in such a complex topic.

So I think that not even a single country, not even a single company,

not even a single organisation can do it all.

This is why we are proposing a more holistic and

collaborative approach and think the UN is the right place to

to to set it, especially because

under the UN umbrella we have a very important principle that is also

reflected in the interim report,

which is everything we do on a I should be under international law.

UN Charter and Human Rights Declaration

In terms of approaching the fears.

Uh,

sorry. Do you want to answer this?

OK, thank you about the fields for the workers. I think that it's

it's it's a new technology. It has former

technologies.

We will have, of course, some.

Some job lost it. It's normal, but we will have also a lot of jobs created. And I

I think that it's more an impact of how we will work.

And it's a matter of, um of adopting the technology so we could improve our way.

We, we, we, we we are doing our work.

So I think that it's more an opportunity than a fee for, uh for the workers.

This specific topic, as I mentioned the report, will include 18 deep dives.

One of these deep dives includes the impact of a I in work.

But of course you have seen the recent report issued at I

mind the Gap together with the Secretariat, and I think

they are the ones who have the specific knowledge on

the issues of a I and the potential divides.

I think our recommendation is what are the instrument

that we can ensure that these divisions can be solved.

And where are the places where people need to meet to solve these issues?

So we are not replacing the role that the UN agency is already doing

what we are proposing ways in which all the stakeholders that

need to find a solution to those problems need to gather.

And that's what we will see in the report. But of course we address these topics.

We have an analysis in every of these topics on the

risks, but also the opportunities because sometimes recently,

the discussion is only on the risks.

And I think we cannot forget the great opportunities that are ahead of us.

And I think the importance is how we make that those opportunities

are equally beneficial to everybody because we guarantee equally on the access.

Thank you both. Um, there was a question in the back of the room.

If you could introduce yourself, that would be helpful.

Yes, Boris

Engelson, a freelancer.

So if I may tease you not quite super but still accredited.

my question is a bit hazy at

the onset of the computer and software revolution in the eighties,

at

Yo

Software was not under patent,

but under copyright it was considered more art and literature than technology,

not hardware but software.

Considering that A. I

is also even more

a

matter of literature than pure technology

regulating

governance of A I

sounds a bit like regulating literature.

And aren't you a bit disturbed that the governing governance body, the UN,

the only one able to

either organisation which has decided to restrict human vocabulary to 17 words?

You are raising a very interesting point

around intellectual property that we also had the

privilege to discuss with the YO organisation here in Geneva and they share with us

a similar reflection that the barrier between

inter industrial property and intellectual property are blurring

in the terms of software and a I. This is also a

subject. We are approaching the deep dives in terms of the recommendations.

We are not having specific regulatory recommendations on our

report because I think that there is also

a margin for donations to regulate themselves,

different aspects of the industry and the market.

But what probably we are

claiming is for regulation alignment,

and that's what we are going to start. The discussions in the recommendations.

How can we make sure that there are not isolated areas of regulation,

but there is a certain level of regulatory alignment.

That's one of the

aims. Topics we're going to aim with our recommendations. Thank you.

The floor is open for additional questions.

I looking up, I see. Uh, Emma Farge,

if you could introduce the the medium that you represent, Emma, the floor is yours.

Good morning. Emma Farge from Reuters News. Um,

I'm new to this topic.

So sorry if if they're ignorant questions,

but were states consulted as part of this process and, um, if so, are they

generally on board to have new kind of global rules in this area?

Um, or maybe there are different ones who have different opinions.

If you could kind of talk me through that aspect of this

and, um, maybe I missed it, but, um, would these, uh,

would this governance be binding in any way?

And And how would countries and

companies be be bound by new rules in this area?

Thanks very much.

Let me briefly repeat those for Carme.

We forgot to put these things on to to hear your excellent questions, Emma so

the first one is. Were member states consulted in

this process and are they on board for these ideas?

And the second question is, are the proposals of the advisory body binding

over to you?

So our board is a totally independent body.

We are not representing individually any corporation, any country.

I myself used to be the former state secretary of Spain,

but I'm not representing Spain at all.

I'm acting on a personal capacity also

Sina and all

nine members.

So it's a very independent report which issues

recommendations that people can decide to adopt or not

in parallel.

There is, of course, a political process related with the global digital compact,

and we have shared a lot of, uh,

information during all this process with member states.

But in the preparation of the report, what we have consultant is experts,

independent experts,

hundreds of them, I think I would say even thousands,

uh, I think more than 75 meetings on deep dives. So because of the

Ito, the diversity in the background,

academia, policy makers, technology companies,

we have come and that has been a really interesting work and complexity come with

a consensus of the state of the art on the issues and the recommendations.

So you should interpret our Our recommendations are absolutely

scientific based, evidence based.

There's a very important in depth intellectual analysis on all the

foundations

but independent.

So I think what we have done is to share

all these recommendations with the member states to different information

meetings.

And now, as we all know, there is a parallel

discussions on the global digital compact,

and we expect that there is a positive feedback on that.

But we are not aware of that process as the body itself.

And perhaps for Sina, do you expect that the recommendations will be binding

of the report?

Binding. So are they obligatory or how would they eventually be implemented?

Oh, thank you.

Yes, I think that, um, has has we share all the recommendation with

the member states. It's, uh,

for each member state to to to take into account

these recommendations.

And I think that there is some There is some recommendation.

We will be

talked

at the summit, the global,

the summit of the future.

And, uh, we,

um we we we we ask all the member

states to to be supportive about our recommendations.

Uh, because the recommendations we are providing, um

uh could help to To have a global a global governance with,

uh

uh with some spaces, uh, for, uh, global south to to share their voices.

So I think that it will be,

uh, yes, it will be a great

I would only include that the feedback we

received during this conversation was very positive.

And don't forget that we are a consultancy body for the Secretary General.

And it is the Secretary General, the one who is taking these considerations,

these recommendations into consideration or not,

and therefore make a formal proposal to the member states.

Thank you. We have Isabel

Saco

from FA

and followed by Maya plants.

Yes. Good morning.

I would, uh, like to clarify some, um,

organisational issues on, for example, um, this final report,

uh,

will be, uh, presented anywhere else next week. Uh, or New York or

somewhere else, Or this is for you. The the

like, the official launch. Uh, even if it's under embargo,

Um, otherwise, it would be, uh

it would have been interesting to have the

report under embargo to be able to ask questions

uh,

regard, uh, related to the feasibility of your recommendations,

you know? And if you can maybe, um

uh, send us, uh, through the information service here in in Geneva.

The report on the under embargo to not to be,

uh, I mean

to, uh, everyone has to then to to ask everyone, uh, by themselves.

If you can just send to the to the to the Geneva press corps.

The the re the report under the embargo. It would be nice. Thank you.

Thanks, Isabel, for your question.

Yes, Um,

that I've already had four emails this morning from the press asking for the report.

So your point is well taken,

and we'll make sure to facilitate as much information as possible.

Uh, we have a follow up question from, uh, Maya plans.

And

this is from the UN brief over to you. Maya.

Yes. Thank you for taking my question. Uh, my question is related to

UNESCO's

open consultations.

I don't know if you mentioned in the very beginning, but they,

uh unesco just published the consultation paper on A I regulation

emerging approaches across the world on in a I governance.

And, um, one is principles based the other standards based,

agile and experimentalist approach facilitating and enabling

approach.

Adapting existing laws approach access to information and transparency,

mandates, approach, risk based approach,

rights based approach and liability approach.

So how are you working? The office, uh, is working.

Your office is working with UNESCO in these approaches. Do you collaborate

in,

then?

A second question I have is regarding,

don't you think there is too much participation of the, um,

technology companies that they are shaping this regulatory?

Uh, approaches? Uh, a little too much. In the case of the advisory body for the UN.

Secretary General,

Just first of all, uh uh, clarify

the question for the representative from FA.

This is not a press release on the report.

This is a previous, uh,

press conference to update you on the progress of the our our work,

as you have mentioned.

And my colleague has already said the official

report will be issued on September 19th.

As of September 13th, we are going to distribute the final report under embargo.

And yes, it will be an official presentation during the UN

during the summit of the future, probably Sunday 22nd. We are fine tuning the date.

But that day will be official presentation together with the secretary General.

And there are some events during the summer of the

future we can to to share publicly the conclusions.

So there will be an important way to officially the report and

you might have access in advance and the embargo for this report.

So it will be published on the 19th.

But the official presentation will be during the summit

of the future and the U NGA week.

Apart from this, uh, you were mentioning my, uh, the the role of UNESCO.

Do you know the role of UNESCO has been very, very valuable.

You know, all our our inputs to to the report as well the role of ITU

and all the existing UN agencies.

You know, UNESCO issued the first ethical guidelines.

But when we talk about governance,

we go beyond ethical is what should be done and governance is to be.

How do we sure that people are doing the right thing?

We don't see governance as an innovator, but as an enabler of doing the right things.

First time.

And that's why we have involved the different stakeholders.

All these reports, uh We're also glad to see that also,

our work is inspiring the the the work that UNESCO and the other agencies will do in

the future because we need them to do their work in the future in the eyes of

a I.

So what we see is there a vertical specialisation? Every, uh, uh, agency.

I mean, who better than I

to assess the risk of the impact of a I in the world? Who better the YO

to assess the impact of a I in

We are not trying to do the work of these agencies. 24 7.

We are creating the mechanisms that all these complex problems

have the complex solutions we need putting the stakeholders together.

So our recommendations are not solving every single question in every

single matter we are saying who should meet to find the

solution, work 24 7 to find a solution to this topic.

And that's what we are going to propose

the right mechanisms to do all these efforts aligned

and to solve all these issues. And therefore, of course, there are some ins,

uh, institutions that have more influence in governments that are UNESCO,

but have probably less influence in the private sector.

And we need to be able to to find the

mechanisms that everybody is working in the same direction.

Uh, I just don't don't share with you the view,

at least in my experience that we have an over

representation of technology companies in the world at all,

I would say have a very important contest of NGO S and academia.

I don't know, uh, said you know what is your your

feedback, But, uh,

we see that the press share the different views are equally represented.

A mi

co chair that sometimes need to be like the the referee.

It has not been a, uh, an easy task, but at the end of the day,

the trade off is bring us the best of the both options.

So I I'm quite happy with the representation and diversity of the board.

Cinna.

Yes, thank you.

Indeed. In the

board, I think that

having technology companies was interesting because when we say

we have to bring everyone,

I think that

bringing the

the point of view of

Global South the point of view of member states, the point of view of N

and academics.

It is also important to have the point of view of technology companies. And

the work in the in the body was

was very effective, and I think that there is no problem with having them inside.

I still see the hands from Isabel,

Saco and Maya up on the zoom.

I don't know if those are additional questions or just the hands and

the buttons of zoom that are sometimes hard to find

in the meantime, um, over to you.

Oh, sorry.

Excuse me. No,

I don't have

any follow

up. Thank you.

Thank you.

Then there's an additional hand up here in the room,

and we have about four more minutes for the briefing.

Jamie, over

to my

hand is a real hand, not a virtual one.

the, um

I just wanted to to follow.

I mean, I mentioned before, like the fear of, uh, jobs and on jobs and creation.

The flip side is is that in recent months we've seen, um, a sort of

a

A retraction or a decline in the amount of concern that a A

I actually is gonna do as much damage as it might have been.

So my question is, and you sort of alluded to this, Um,

uh, about this. But,

um, are you not concerned that maybe you're

not the the the A I world is not clear enough yet.

We still don't know exactly how it's gonna shift and shape out

and that

the fears that we have today may not be there in six months from now and the and

the the the the the marketplace is moving in the world of a I is changing so fast

that

it's

you may be even premature by putting a finger on it. Right now

we have one more question and then a few minutes for

Cinna and Carmen to wrap up Uh, Maya ple

Yes, thank you. I have a follow up following on Emma Farge

S

question regarding countries how much governments

have been shaping this conversation.

This

advisory body which countries are supporting of a laissez

faire approach and which ones are really

more concerned about the negative impacts.

And then the second question is we see

consolidation of several companies have been acquired

already by the big tech companies like anthropic

ma

aqui hire, with

Solomon

being invited to become the Chief A I person at

Microsoft and we have several others because it seems like

a

generative. A I hasn't been yet found, has not yet found a viable business.

And it cost billions to actually just make people search for a couple of things.

They prompt something like millions of litres of water are being used.

How are you addressing this question of the responsibility that this, uh,

big tech companies have in terms of addressing the environment?

Question uh, instead of just greenwashing.

OK, thank you for the question.

I think that you are right when you say that we don't know

how will be the future of a I. So

it's why it's important to talk about the global governance,

a way to think all together about the future and how to tackle the future problem so

of Canada.

I just want to add that the question about risk is a very relevant one. And

this is why,

in the final report we are including a specific agenda on what we call the risk pulse.

We have made really important consultation with broad consultation

on what are the perceived risks.

And you will see how interesting is that the perception

of risk is different from countries to the other.

It's even different from between women and men.

And we're talking about risk. We need to have

to differentiate short term risk and long term risks.

If we remember the very early days of a I development,

everybody was talking about fairness

that was talking about bias discrimination around algorithms.

Then this conversation shifted one year ago on safety

because of the A I safety summit and we, like we are thinking about.

We are not worried about fairness anymore. We are not worried about.

So this conversation will go and on and on, and it is a very dynamic environment.

So in our approach, we take both into account short term,

mid term and long term term risks.

And how do we keep that sustainable,

depending on the different future technology waves?

And as I mentioned, it will be very relevant to

the outcomes on the risk pulse because then we see also how, also,

I would say lack of inclusivity is perceived also

in the risk the population have internally

and

following the conversation with my I agree with you,

there are some hypes Now the big thing is generative a I,

we'll see a big boom consolidation.

That's how it grows in the technology sector.

I'm

from the language sector for 30 years and I've seen it many, many times.

But the important thing is how can we keep these companies accountable?

And really,

where the global deficit is is in accountability and reporting

on transparency of the R and D from private companies?

Because the first time ever technology is not developed mostly from the academia,

but mostly from R and D centres in

private companies that are not obliged to publish their

information.

So one of the topics we approach is how can we

ensure transparency on the opportunities and risk on the continuous way over

time and how we set up monitoring systems that make companies accountable

in terms of not only social responsibility but also on sustainability,

which is also a very important topic that we approach in the document.

So I totally agree with you. We need transparency. We need accountability.

Wonderful. Thank you so much.

Um, to all of you who have joined us online,

and especially to our colleagues at UN Information Service,

it's a pleasure to answer your question. So Carmen and

Zina are here for the rest of the day. In case you'd like to,

uh, chat with them bilaterally. And you have my email on the chat. If you,

uh, need more in, everyone has said they need more information,

so I'll agree with you and information service.

How we get that to you.

And again, Uh, thank you. Have a wonderful day.

Office of the Secretary-General's Envoy on Technology - Press Conference: 27 August 2024