
Artificial Intelligence rules: United Nation takes important steps with new resolution
In order to address the important challenges in artificial intelligence( AI), the United Nation General Assembly has taken some crucial steps. March 21, is the day when UNGA quietly adopts its first-ever resolution on AI. This came after a series of resolutions in late 2023. It especially focused on technology and sustainable development. But it is also important to note that none specifically dealt with Artificial Intelligence until now.
This is the time when AI technology has been evolving very quickly. Many advanced AI models launched such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, Google’s Gemini, and Microsoft’s Copilot.
However, making rules for the usage of AI tools has been slow. This technology is used across the world so it requires international rules that have to be followed by every nation. But different countries have struggled to agree on these rules. A few days ago, the European Parliament passed the new AI act. Also European Council working on AI convention. But there is no big change in AI technology on a global level.
The adoption of resolution is crucial. It was led by the United States that announced that 40 other nations take part in order to support it. They said no matter what level of development is, every nation gets benefits from it. The basic purpose of the United State is to agree with all 193 United Nation member countries.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield mentioned that they worked with over 120 countries to write the resolution. The final adoption happened at the UNGA’s 63rd meeting of the 78th session.
However, 125 countries were on the list that agreed to support the resolution. An important moment happened when the Mexican delegate wanted to speak for Mexico. It is the nation that did not support the resolution. Also it was not permitted because the agenda item has ended.
In 2028, Mexico was the first Latin American country that announced the national Artificial intelligence plan. At that time it also committed to AI progress. Later on, it will be interesting to get knowledge about the fact that why they did not support the resolution?
Along with all specific regions, the new resolution is a good initiative to involve all countries in regulating Artificial Intelligence. However, when it comes to AI rule, every nation has its own interest.
Furthermore, most of the AI companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Microsoft are based in the United State. The focus of this nation is to support business growth and make money. While they recognize risks to privacy and biased data, the White House talks about how AI can make big decisions and change industries, aiming to improve society.
At the same time, in Europe strict rules have been made in order to protect the data of Europeans. The basic purpose of the European Union is to satisfy people that AI is a safe tool to use that never breaches their privacy. They also want to change laws to control the usage of data and to protect personal information.
Many African countries are facing different types of challenges to get benefits from AI technology. Actually the use of Artificial Intelligence tools largely depends upon the strength of internet signals and the internet access is limited in the Global South. This is one of the reasons that they don’t get advantages from AI tools. Additionally, AI development, training, and testing primarily occur in the Global North and are predominantly conducted in English. This reliance often leads to biased and discriminatory data that does not cater to the African market’s needs.
Recently the statement from Sandra Makumbirofa came into light, “The data that we have as African countries is not represented in the training of AI models. This means that the AI that we are using in Africa from foreign countries does not necessarily have the African context and therefore we are not able to use them efficiently as we can.”
It’s not surprising that the draft resolution found only limited common ground for broad acceptance. However, the final resolution is more assertive than expected, strongly committing to both the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is important for countries promoting ethical AI use. It emphasizes the “lifecycle” of AI from data privacy to consumer use and gives states flexibility to implement it according to national laws. Compared to an earlier US draft, the final resolution softens its language but strengthens support for developing countries, urging all states to help them benefit from AI fairly and equitably.