New York: Europe and the Arabs

The International Independent Scientific Group on Artificial Intelligence (IISI) has released its preliminary report, the first global and independent scientific assessment of the opportunities, risks, and impacts of artificial intelligence.

This effort to build a shared understanding of AI comes at a critical juncture, as governments make crucial decisions about AI amidst considerable uncertainty, relying on rapidly changing and sometimes conflicting sources of evidence and perspectives that do not necessarily reflect local realities.

AI is evolving faster than governments can keep pace. Just a few years ago, its capabilities were limited to answering questions or producing text.

Today, it can write code, analyze massive amounts of data, create realistic images and videos, help scientists discover new drugs, and even perform tasks almost autonomously with minimal human oversight.

However, as AI's capabilities accelerate, experts warn that the rules and regulations needed to ensure its safe use are not keeping up with this rapid development. This is the conclusion of the preliminary report issued by the UN Independent International Scientific Group on Artificial Intelligence (IISI), released on Wednesday, according to the UN Daily News.

At a press conference held at UN Headquarters in New York on Wednesday to review the report's findings, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the IISI report "is honest about the enormous potential of this technology."

He added: "When used properly, AI can be the most powerful driver of development, accelerating global progress in areas ranging from health and hunger to education and climate action. At the same time, the IISI is fully aware of the potential harms that AI can cause."

The Secretary-General warned that as AI advances without common rules, governments and people will have less ability to influence the outcomes, urging governments not to wait. He noted that the Future Summit had raised the question of whether international cooperation could keep pace with the rapid advancement of technology, adding, "Today, we have an answer to that. The science is available to us. We can no longer say that we didn't know. What we do with this science is up to us."

Seven Key Areas
The independent international scientific team on artificial intelligence that prepared the report comprises 40 leading scientists and experts from all regions of the world, working in their personal capacities and independently of any government, company, or institution.

The report's findings will be presented to governments during the inaugural UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance, to be held in Geneva on July 6 and 7.

The team's initial report outlines its findings across seven key areas:

AI science, developments, and future paths.

Societal applications, including science, health, education, and agriculture.

Economic impacts.

Security, regulations, and environmental impacts.

Human rights, information, and democracy.

Cultural and individual flourishing, autonomy, and child safety.

Management, Governance, and Trustworthiness.

Highlights of the Report

The rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities in recent years have led to beneficial applications in science, health, agriculture, accessibility, knowledge-based businesses, and information technology.

The widespread adoption of AI technology has accelerated; however, access to and use of this technology remain uneven, with developing countries lagging significantly behind.

The development of AI carries risks and could have negative impacts on human rights, social systems, and the environment.

The widening gap between the rapid development of capabilities and the availability of effective risk management methods could lead to disastrous consequences.

The risks of AI affect all populations and countries to varying degrees.

A Different Approach

The report calls for good governance to fully realize the benefits of AI while minimizing its risks. He pointed out that policymakers face a dilemma in their efforts to define the frameworks for this governance: they need evidence to make informed decisions, but by the time the evidence becomes available, it is often too late, especially since artificial intelligence is developing at a pace that the available evidence cannot keep up with.

Yoshua Bengio and Maria Ressa, the co-chairs of the scientific team, spoke to reporters in New York, where they noted that the pursuit of competitive advantage is currently driving the development of artificial intelligence. However, they emphasized that a technology of this power and with such a radical impact requires a completely different approach—one based on coordination, a shared understanding of the facts, and the establishment of collective rules that ensure everyone benefits from AI and that global power in its governance is shared.

They addressed a message to the heads of state, ministers, and delegates who will be reading this report, saying: "Don't let anyone mislead you into thinking that the risks are merely speculative or that the timelines are far in the future." Decisions That Will Shape the Future

At the press conference, Maria Ressa stated that the pace of artificial intelligence is not slowing down, and control over it remains in the hands of a handful of companies, and that control is not guaranteed.

She added that the United States alone accounts for 75% of the computing power of the world's largest AI computing pools. Regarding control over these systems, Ressa said, "No expert today can guarantee that even the most sophisticated systems will do what you tell them to do."

She emphasized that the window for action remains open, "and this report provides a common ground from which we can move forward."