Ljubljana - GSMA, INNIT, Lenovo Group, LG AI Research, Mastercard, Microsoft, Salesforce and Telefonica today announced that they have signed a landmark agreement on February 5 to build more ethical AI. The companies will integrate the values and principles of the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI into the design and deployment of AI systems.
"In November 2021, UNESCO forged a consensus among all its member states to adopt the first global ethical framework for the use of artificial intelligence. Today, we are taking another important step by receiving the same concrete commitment from global technology companies. I call on all technology stakeholders to follow the lead of these first eight companies. This public-private alliance is crucial to building AI for the common good," said UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay.
The agreement was signed at the 2nd UNESCO Global Forum on AI in Kranj, Slovenia. It commits companies to fully play their role in ensuring human rights in the design, development, purchase, sale and use of AI. This is the first time that companies have engaged with the United Nations in this area.
It states that due diligence must be carried out to meet safety standards, identify adverse impacts of AI, and take timely action to prevent, mitigate or remedy them, in accordance with domestic law. The agreement also notes that ex-ante testing (testing before a new AI system is put on the market) is essential. But given the rapid evolution of AI systems already on the market, it also calls for the development of ex-post (after deployment) risk assessment and mitigation practices.
UNESCO's Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence was the world's first and remains the only normative framework on AI. Over the past two years, demonstrable progress has been made in implementing this framework. Today, more than 50 countries are actively engaged in its implementation, and multilateral cooperation has increased significantly.
Since the adoption of the Recommendation, UNESCO has also promoted collaboration with the private sector, leading to the establishment of a Business Council for Ethics of AI, co-chaired by Microsoft and Telefonica. The Business Council is committed to strengthening technical capacity in ethics and AI, designing and implementing the ethical impact assessment tool mandated by the Recommendation on the Ethics of AI, and contributing to the development of smart regional regulations.
