The United Nations has released seven recommendations to address and govern AI-related risks in a new report, Governing AI for Humanity.

Authored by members of the UN Secretary General’s High-level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence which was set up in October 2023, the recommendations follow an interim report published in December 2023.

The report outlines a blueprint for addressing AI-related risks, as well as sharing the transformative technology globally.

The paper urges the UN to lay the foundations for the first globally inclusive and distributed architecture for AI governance based on international cooperation, and calls on governments and stakeholders to work together in governing AI to foster development and protection of all human rights.

The advisory group noted the lack of a global framework to govern AI, as well as the gaps between nations on regulating the emerging technology.

The EU has arguably emerged as a front-runner in AI regulation, with the AI Act coming into effect earlier this year. However, many other countries are still scrambling to put guardrails in place for the technology. The UN report could serve as a tangible step for creating a global framework for AI.

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The United Kingdom recently did sign a legally-binding international AI treaty agreed by the Council of Europe, which commits parties to collective action on managing AI products and protecting the public from misuse and risks

Key Recommendations

The UN therefore made seven recommendations urging global cooperation to govern AI, including light institutional mechanisms to compliment existing efforts.

1. Establishing an international scientific panel on AI: This panel will aim to provide impartial, reliable scientific knowledge about AI. The panel would address knowledge gaps, and produce annual reports on AI trends, capabilities, and risks.
2. New policy dialogue on AI governance: Taking place at the UN, the new dialogue will feature intergovernmental and multi stakeholder meetings, to foster common ground and regulatory interoperability rooted in human rights.
3. AI standards exchange: Representatives from standards organisations, tech companies, and civil society to ensure technical interoperability of AI systems across borders.
4. Global AI capacity development network: These will boost AI governance capacities, offering training, compute resources, and AI datasets to researchers and social entrepreneurs.
5. Global AI fund: This aims to address gaps in capacity and collaboration, empowering local efforts to further the sustainable development goals.
6. Global AI data framework: These aim to standardise data-related definitions, principles, and stewardship, ensuring transparency, and accountability in AI systems.
7. Small AI Office: The report also proposes setting up a small AI office within the UN Secretariat to support and coordinate the implementation of these proposals.