UN Raises Alarm Over AI Governance Monopoly By 7 Countries

The United Nations (UN) has raised concerns that decisions impacting other countries are being made by only seven nations involved in the governance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

AI governance involves setting policies, regulations, and guidelines that ensure the responsible and ethical development, deployment, and use of AI technologies.

The UN Secretary-General’s High-level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence stated this in its final report titled “Governing AI for Humanity.”

According to the report, the seven countries involved in AI governance for the rest of the world include Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

“Whole parts of the world have been left out of international AI governance conversations. Seven countries are parties to all the sampled AI governance efforts, whereas 118 countries are parties to none (primarily in the global South),” the report stated.

The body noted that equity demands that more voices play meaningful roles in decisions about how to govern technology that affects them.

It emphasised that the concentration of decision-making in the AI technology sector cannot be justified, adding that historically, many communities have been entirely excluded from AI governance conversations that impact them.

“AI governance regimes must also span the globe to be effective in averting “AI arms races” or a “race to the bottom” on safety and rights, in detecting and responding to incidents emanating from decisions along AI’s life cycle which span multiple jurisdictions, in spurring learning, in encouraging interoperability, and in sharing AI’s benefits.

“The technology is borderless and, as it spreads, the illusion that any one State or group of States could (or should) control it will diminish,” it said.

The UN body added that the development of AI cannot be left to the “whims” of the market alone.

In the report, the 39-member panel agreed that national governments will inevitably play an important role in regulating AI but stressed that the technology’s borderless nature also requires a “global approach.”

It added that the accelerating development of AI concentrates power and wealth globally, with geopolitical and geoeconomic implications.

The report pointed out that no one currently understands AI’s inner workings enough to fully control its outputs or predict its evolution, nor are decision-makers held accountable for developing, deploying, or using systems they do not understand.

“Many countries face fiscal and resource constraints limiting their ability to use AI appropriately and effectively,” said the panel.

“The imperative of global governance, in particular, is irrefutable. AI’s raw materials, from critical minerals to training data, are globally sourced. The development, deployment, and use of such a technology cannot be left to the whims of markets alone,” the report stated.