Closing remarks
Doreen Bogdan-Martin
Secretary-General, International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
[As prepared for delivery]
What an incredible three days!
Let me start by thanking all those who made it possible: our more than 40 partners from the UN family; the Government of Switzerland; our sponsors; and all the amazing speakers and exhibitors.
We've heard powerful stories, made lasting connections, and had meaningful conversations that none of us will forget.
There were people lining up around the block to see the action inside.
I'm told we've reached historic levels of participation.
We even had a viral moment this morning when French President Macron retweeted the first tweet ever written and published using only the power of thought.
History was made right here on our Frontier Stage.
Children took over the Youth Zone to build their own robots.
They're tomorrow's AI innovators and leaders.
What Princess Beatrice said yesterday really resonated with me, as a mom, when she urged us to figure out how best to use these incredible technologies for our children.
And then, we met extraordinary people like Luis.
I hope you were in the room yesterday when he joined us remotely from Lisbon.
ALS took away Luis' ability to speak — but not his voice — thanks to AI.
Connecting with him was moving and inspiring, and that's what AI for Good is all about.
AI for Good is where leaders from the UN, government, industry, international organizations, academia, the technical community, and civil society sat side by side over the last three days — and called for all voices to be included in AI global governance processes.
I share the concerns of Ministers and others who felt their countries were being excluded from critical AI conversations.
We heard you.
And we took action here in the past few days to move us in the right direction.
Let me highlight three for you today.
The first action is about giving developing countries an equal seat at the table — both at the Summit and at our first AI Governance Day.
Inclusion is at the heart of everything ITU does as the UN agency for digital technologies.
By bringing the WSIS and AI for Good communities together, we've shown the importance of building a digital society with, and for, everyone.
I'm also pleased to see organizations step up their digital inclusion efforts around the world.
Seven organizations from governments, the UN, industry, and NGOs have answered the pledging campaign launched earlier this year by Partner2Connect and AI for Good.
Together, they have committed over 1.7 billion US dollars to use AI to advance digital inclusion, especially for persons with disabilities, young girls, and women.
The campaign will continue — and I encourage you to follow their example and make your pledge now!
The second action is strengthening standards cooperation — something the HLAB has highlighted.
This is the essence of the landmark collaboration just announced by the World Standards Cooperation to provide a unified framework for AI standards.
As we've heard repeatedly from all participants, interoperability and security are a necessity.
They are a necessity if AI is to turbocharge the sustainable development the UN Secretary-General has called for: one based on trust and safety, one that is affordable, and one that advances inclusivity, especially in developing countries.
Driven by ITU, ISO, and IEC, this global initiative will ensure the effective translation of AI governance principles into practical, actionable standards.
Ultimately, our goal is to fill existing gaps in AI standardization to tackle our most pressing global challenges and achieve the SDGs.
Over the last three days, we've also heard the urgency to stop the spread of AI-driven misinformation and deepfakes.
We cannot sit idle as misinformation and deepfakes erode trust in our elections, our institutions, and the very foundations of our societies.
The problem with watermarking techniques right now is not that they don't exist — it's that they don't work across different technologies.
That's why I'm pleased that we have formed a multistakeholder collaboration on technical standards for: AI watermarking; multimedia authenticity; and deepfake detection technologies.
By improving current standards and identifying needs for new ones, this collaborative effort will help protect copyrights and recognize AI-created content on a large scale.
The third action is about building AI capacity around the world.
That's where the AI for Good Impact Initiative launched yesterday comes into play.
The Initiative will link AI innovators with problem owners to scale AI-driven solutions equally across all the SDGs and every region.
We need big capacity building efforts like these to meet the scale of the challenge.
Yesterday, we heard some early significant financial commitments to this new initiative on this very stage.
This is a great start!
I'm calling on everyone to join us to help scale and fund the most promising AI solutions for maximum impact.
Over the past three days, we've come face-to-face with the three dimensions of artificial intelligence: an AI that captures our imagination and promises great opportunities; an AI that concerns us and taps into our fears; and an AI that challenges us to reimagine our relationship with technology and with each other.
All three dimensions demand urgent action.
Because if not now, then when?
And if not for the SDGs, then for what cause?
Ladies and gentlemen,
The UN Secretary-General reminded us about the need to build safe and inclusive AI that is accessible to all.
As I said yesterday, the AI genie is out of the bottle.
There's no putting it back in.
But there is hope.
You have sent a strong message to the world that the future of AI is not yet written.
As we look to 2030, and milestones like the Summit of the Future in September and next year's WSIS+20 Review.
Now is the time to redouble our efforts to: make AI innovation inclusive, build safe, secure, and trustworthy AI systems, and scale AI solutions to rescue the SDGs.
We can do it.
We can do it together.
We are the AI Generation.
