Saudi Arabia hosted a virtual consultative meeting on Thursday to discuss the launch of the advisory body for Artificial Intelligence, proposed by the United Nations.
The meeting was part of the Global AI Summit’s agenda in Riyadh. It involved preliminary discussions on the feasibility of forming a consultation body for the United Nations to promote the use of reliable, safe, and sustainable AI technologies, in a way that supports human rights and achieves peace and prosperity.
The session involved prominent speakers including Dr. Mishari Al-Mishari, the Deputy Director at the National Information Center, Saudi Arabia; Dr. Bruce Walker Ferguson, the President of the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS); and Dr. Adrian Weller, the Program Director for AI at the Alan Turing Institute and Turing Fellow.
Addressing the participants, Mishari said: “It’s unlikely to separate between Data & AI as Data is the fuel and AI is the engine.”
Ferguson, for his part, said that artificial intelligence was easily accessible and could improve the quality of learning, while Weller noted that people must be involved in the future of these technologies as they will affect their lives.
Saudi Arabia is a contributing member in these discussions that will feature an advisory phase prior to the proposed formation of the UN body.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had previously talked about a UN-developed roadmap for digital cooperation in the form of a report and announced his intention to start discussions on forming an advisory body that includes various stakeholders to lead global cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence.
UN advisory bodies usually consist of member states, relevant UN institutions, interested companies, academic institutions, and civil society organizations. Each member works to provide knowledge and ideas on specialized topics of interest and to reach a common agreement on the shared priorities as well as the proposed recommendations.
