WSIS Action Lines C10: Ethics: The UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence: Putting ethics at the heart of AI systems
UNESCO Social and Human Sciences Sector
Session 237
Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to be a white-hot area of rapid technological development and innovation. Beside the evident benefits, AI technologies embody great risks. To take a recent example, over the past several months, a range of powerful new AI applications has been made available to non-professional users around the world, including large language models such as ChatGPT, and image generation tools such as DALL·E 2 and Midjourney. The sudden availability of these tools has triggered a media and social media frenzy, with widespread public excitement about the new possibilities that have been opened up, but has also raised profound and growing ethical as well as legal concerns about a wide range of issues including the potential for misinformation at scale, reproduction of harmful stereotypes and biases in the texts and images that are being generated, plagiarism, authorship and human creative work, new vectors for cyberattacks, as well as questions about the legitimate and lawful use of online data and artwork by companies producing AI models. These tools are also contributing to immediate and direct challenges to – but also potential opportunities for – creative industries and education, which are being forced to adapt quickly in response. Meanwhile, less high-profile but equally consequential developments and deployments of AI are continuing across all sectors.
In many ways, these prominent tools are serving as simply the latest examples of why ethical and responsible approaches to AI are so vital to the responsible deployment of high-impact systems that are likely to reshape our work and daily lives over the coming years and decades. Often developed in Silicon Valley and presented as “experimental” releases – albeit for a global public – it appears there has been little effective corporate assessment of ethical impacts or multi-stakeholder engagement with potentially impacted end users. These recent cases serve to highlight the vital importance of the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI and the need for Member States to begin implementing its values – moving from principles to practice.
The Recommendation was adopted in 2021 and serves as a comprehensive and actionable framework for the ethical development and use of AI that encompasses the full spectrum of human rights. It is intended to provide the foundation to identify, think through, and begin to address the kinds of ethical concerns mentioned above, as well as many others. As it now progresses to the operationalization phase, UNESCO is working to develop and pilot tools to help Member States implement the values and principles contained in the Recommendation, including a Readiness Assessment Methodology and Ethical Impact Assessment.
With reference to recent developments, this panel focuses on the need to embed ethics at every stage of the AI system lifecycle and use UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Ethics of AI in order to ensure a responsible and human-rights-based approach to ethical AI governance encompassing design, development, deployment, and procurement. in a mutually supportive, inclusive, and holistic manner.
Irakli led the Social and Human Sciences programme in UNESCO's Jakarta Regional Bureau for Science in Asia and the Pacific (2014-2020), where he engaged directly with the governments and civil society in the region to build inclusive societies and foster equitable human development, based on universal human rights frameworks. Currently at UNESCO Paris Headquarters, Irakli is focusing on promoting global ethical reflection on such emerging and converging technologies as artificial intelligence, IoT, neurotechnology, and climate engineering. He is also coordinating the implementation of global normative instruments, such as the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights (2005) and the Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (2021), by designing and delivering multifaceted capacity-building programs around the world.
Gilles is a French strategy consultant in the data, AI and digital space. He is an instructor on Globethics.net’s Cyber Ethics and Responsible Leadership courses, and a Pool of Ethics Experts member.
Jayne Stancavage is the Vice President of Policy and Regulatory Affairs for Intel Corporation, leads a team responsible for developing and implementing strategy to advance Intel’s regulatory and technical policy positions globally on areas including artificial intelligence and data, autonomous vehicles, connectivity (5G, 6G, Wi-Fi, etc.), cybersecurity, intellectual property, manufacturing and sustainability, standards, and supply chain. Jayne joined Intel in 2000, focusing on communications policy. In addition to her policy work, she has also worked within Intel business units where she coordinated Intel’s internal efforts to embed Wi-Fi capabilities into notebook computer platforms.
Jayne has over a decade of experience in the ITU-R including roles chairing work at the sub-working group levels and a delegate at multiple World Radiocommunication Conferences. She also chairs the US FCC’s WRC-19 Advisory Committee group for terrestrial services. In addition, Jayne currently serves on the Board of Directors for the US Telecom Training Institute, the Open RAN Policy Coalition, and the Partnership for Automated Vehicle Education (PAVE); she is also on the Global mobile Suppliers (GSA) Spectrum Group management team and the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) Board of Industry Leaders. She has previously served multiple terms on the Wi-Fi Alliance Board of Directors.
Jayne received both her bachelor's and master's degrees in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Moira is a Vice President of IFIP (International Federation for Information Processing), and Chair of IFIP IP3. She was awarded the IFIP Silver Core in 2016 for service. She believes that ethical behaviour and leadership is the keystone of any profession and works to develop understanding of ethics and the value of the IFIP Code of Ethics.
Moira is an accomplished speaker and has presented at conferences around the world. Notably, she has attended and presented at WSIS Forums since 2012. Moira is an independent consultant. Her current work is focused on instructional design and online course development. Moira is a Professional Member and Fellow of IITPSA (Institute of IT Professionals South Africa), She received the IITPSA Distinguished Service in ICT Award in 2009. She is also a member of ACM and IODSA.
Moira serves on the Council for the National Museum in Bloemfontein, South Africa.
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C1. The role of governments and all stakeholders in the promotion of ICTs for development
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C3. Access to information and knowledge
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C4. Capacity building
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C6. Enabling environment
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C7. ICT applications: benefits in all aspects of life — E-government
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C7. ICT applications: benefits in all aspects of life — E-environment
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C10. Ethical dimensions of the Information Society
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C11. International and regional cooperation
This session puts at the center Action Line c10 Ethics, as it aims to discuss the need to govern AI with an ethical compass in mind. In addition, because of the overarching nature of AI technologies, the session is also directly linked with other Action Lines, such as capacity building, development and governance, enabling environment, and international and regional development.
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Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere
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Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all
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Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
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Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
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Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
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Goal 8: Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all
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Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
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Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries
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Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
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Goal 16: Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies
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Goal 17: Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development
the ethical governance of artificial intelligence would ensure that the technology that is used in a wide range of domains, is beneficial to all, inclusive and sustainable. Thus, ethical AI intersect with many of the SDGs, as for example in order to reduce poverty, it is important to ensure that all people around the world are able to enjoy the benefits of technology, and utilize it for work opportunities, educational opportunities etc.