Opening remarks
Doreen Bogdan-Martin
Secretary-General, International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Thank you, everyone, for joining us today.
It's great to see many of you again as we gear up for our next edition of AI for Good.
Our last summit in July marked the first opportunity for leading AI (artificial intelligence) experts to gather since the advent of generative AI.
A new future was really taking shape at the time— one that was filled with tremendous opportunity and at the same time also much uncertainty.
It was a pivotal moment to assess the benefits, and also the risks of this technology, and look at how we could move forward together.
To help us focus on this task, and the urgency of action, I outlined three scenarios during that last summit.
And the first one was where AI lived up to its potential. We had dramatic healthcare improvements, food insecurity was no longer a concern, climate action got a big boost, and the list goes on.
And AI was instrumental in helping us to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In the second scenario, I described the risks of AI outweighing the benefits. Bias, misinformation, job displacement and other ethical and security concerns became the norm. And we missed our chance to deliver on the SDGs.
In the last scenario that I described, the AI revolution basically left too many people behind.
Only a handful of developed countries that had sufficient computing power and resources were leading AI research and development. The pace of AI innovation was faster than digital inclusion. And the gap between the digital “haves" and the digital “have-nots" widened.
In all three scenarios, it really hinged on the global community's capacity to govern AI — and to find that right balance between innovation, inclusion, and regulation.
So, what's changed since the last summit?
The short answer is: Everything has changed.
Breakthroughs in fields like protein folding, like climate modeling, like neuroscience, are really revolutionizing our understanding of science.
Companies are rethinking their business models.
At the same time, we have lots and lots of public skepticism about the technology.
We have more and more countries asking institutions like ITU to support their capacity-developing initiatives.
But I would say probably the most visible — and perhaps the most consequential — would be the change that we have seen in terms of swift policy and regulatory responses from governments.
We have witnessed various national government efforts with differing approaches — from the US to India to China, and I think they actually challenge the argument that governments lack initiative when it comes to tech.
But at the same time, it's also important to remember that countries are at different stages when we look at their AI journeys.
We did our own AI-readiness survey amongst our 193 Member States, and only 15 per cent of respondents actually said that they had an AI policy.
So, I think there is lots of room and scope for further developments.
We have seen regional initiatives and legal frameworks, from the EU (European Union) AI Act to the G7 Hiroshima AI Process, the ASEAN AI Guide, and of course, many others.
And when we look to the international stage, with the UN General Assembly adopting last month what I would say is a historic resolution on artificial intelligence, I think that's a big step forward and, in some ways, it reminds us at the ITU of our own landmark AI resolution that was adopted back in 2022. And it recognizes the potential of AI to help accelerate progress across the SDGs.
It is also important to remember the Global Digital Compact that's in the works and the UN Secretary-General's High-Level Advisory Body on AI.
I would say what these national, regional and international governance efforts have in common, what we are seeing – and I think this is what is important − is a shared belief in standards. Technical standards — and this is core to the work of ITU.
Those technical standards serve as a prerequisite for the effective implementation of guardrails.
They also help to level the playing field for countries with lower technological capabilities.
I think the standards are the cornerstone of AI − an AI that is safe, secure, and responsible.
And really without standards, we cannot build trust. And without trust, the scenario that I described, of the risks of AI outweighing the benefits, becomes much more likely.
That's why standards are so central to our recent UN White Paper on AI governance. It is something that was led by ITU together with UNESCO. We have identified some 50 existing normative and policy instruments in the UN system that we believe can help inform and shape AI governance.
I would also say, just as importantly, I think that it demonstrates how we can leverage the UN as a catalyst for progress.
That leads me to what we hope to accomplish at this year's summit. And I hope you'll all be with us.
One critical area of action is moving from principles to implementation. That's going to be the focus of the AI Governance Day on 29 May.
We are also planning hands-on workshops including on authenticity and watermarking.
I will be showcasing innovations and things like health, accessibility, disaster response, agriculture, and much more.
And there will be cutting-edge demos on the exhibition floor, including never-before-seen brain-machine interfaces. And I hope that will inspire and encourage you to come and join us.
Everything that we do is about helping AI to live up to its potential and really help boost progress on the SDGs. It's the essence of the AI for Good platform since its inception back in 2017.
And we're very proud that it is the largest UN system multi-stakeholder platform on AI.
In September, the UN Summit of the Future will take place, and I think this is a turning point for the SDGs.
And I also think it's an opportunity for us as a community to gather around the critical instruments like standards, capacity building, and multi-stakeholder mechanisms for dialogue, such as AI for Good.
I do think we can still write a digital future that we want — and a future that will given everyone, everywhere, equal opportunities.
I thank you once again for joining us, and I look forward to your questions.
