A short note on the recently signed declaration for safe & inclusive AI at the United Nations
A multi-stakeholder high-level advisory body with researchers and policy experts came together at the United Nations to sign the Manhattan Declaration on Inclusive Global Scientific Understanding of Artificial Intelligence. The declaration was co-sponsored by Yoshua Bengio, who is also a Honorary Advisor of our centre. The head of our centre Dr. Balaraman Ravindran was a signatory.
Source: Mila
Overview of the Declaration
The Declaration noted the developments in AI and the associated risks and benefits in the development and use of AI technologies. It emphasised the need for the scientific community to come together to anticipate the challenges posed by AI and to support safe and beneficial use of AI. Key highlights from the Declaration include:
Scientific cooperation and support for governance: No single country or organisation can address challenges related to AI alone. The Declaration calls for enhanced global collaboration on AI research, especially on issues of AI safety, ethics, and societal impact. Further, the Declaration expressed its support to the efforts by UN and other organisations in formulating evidence based AI governance frameworks and fostering interoperability among such frameworks.
AI as a global public good: The Declaration reaffirmed the commitment to build AI systems that are beneficial to society and safeguard human rights, privacy, fairness, and dignity for all. It also acknowledged AI’s role in attaining global Sustainable Development Goals such as improved health and education.
Inclusive and interdisciplinary approach: The impacts of AI are global and therefore there is a need to include perspectives from researchers across the globe in the development and governance of AI. Further, the Declaration committed to an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach by getting insights from various fields such as ethics, economics, cognitive science, neuroscience, social science, and cultural studies.
Safe and responsible AI: The Declaration recognised the need to assess the capabilities and risks posed by AI systems especially from increasingly capable AI systems. It committed to prioritise research on AI alignment with human values. The Declaration also advocated for safe and responsible design, development, deployment of AI. It prioritised the use of AI for societal benefits over rapid advancement at any cost.
CeRAI is actively involved in various activities related to the themes in the declaration. You can browse our technical, policy and social science research projects here. The centre also engages in active outreach and education to a wide audience ranging from students to senior executives. We are also involved in providing advisory assistance to various regulatory bodies. If you are interested in working with us, or just would like to know more, please write to contact@cerai.in.