The UN Human Rights Council on Friday adopted a resolution calling on the international community to take protective and supervisory measures with regard to artificial intelligence.
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The resolution – co-sponsored by South Korea, Austria, Brazil, Denmark, Morocco and Singapore – was adopted by consensus.
China and India, however, indicated they were dissenting from the consensus but did not call a vote, a common practice when countries are unhappy with a resolution but do not want to spoil the party.
Beijing argued that the text contained “controversial” elements, without giving specifics.
The resolution calls for promoting the “transparency” of AI systems and ensuring that data intended for this technology “is collected, used, shared, archived and deleted” in ways compatible with human rights.
The Council has looked at new technologies as a whole before, but this is the first time it has looked closely at the development of AI.
This resolution stresses the importance of “guaranteeing, promoting and protecting human rights throughout the life cycle of artificial intelligence systems”, argued the South Korean ambassador, Yun Seong-deok, while that his American counterpart Michèle Taylor considered that the resolution was a “step forward” for the Council.
“We are in complete agreement when this resolution underlines the need, among other things, for protective measures, due diligence and human supervision with regard to AI”, underlined for his part the Belgian ambassador Marc Pecsteen of Buytswerve on behalf of the European Union, calling for a “cautious approach” to ensure human rights are protected and respected in a world of rapid technological development.
Of great technical complexity, AI systems fascinate as much as they worry. While they can save lives by enabling a quantum leap in medical diagnosis, they are also exploited by authoritarian regimes to exercise mass surveillance of citizens.
Representatives of the United Nations but also leaders and experts have recently multiplied calls for the establishment of rules so that these new technologies do not endanger humanity.
British Ambassador Simon Manley on Friday called for “safeguards” to be put in place and stressed that his country is hosting an AI summit in the fall “to seek agreement on security measures. , to assess and monitor material risks relating to the latest developments”.
“We are deeply concerned about the use of technology to restrict human rights,” including by encroaching on “privacy,” he said.