Developing nations call for bigger say in shaping AI future

UNITED NATIONS:

Developing nations are demanding a greater role in shaping the rules governing artificial intelligence, warning that a technology poised to transform economies could instead deepen global inequalities if its development and regulation remain concentrated in wealthy countries.

The debate at last week's UN festival of diplomacy in New York highlighted mounting concern among leaders from Africa, Asia and Latin America around the increasingly powerful technology after several safety breaches, and as top researchers have warned it could destroy humanity.

"Developing countries cannot be reduced to the role of mere users of technologies designed elsewhere, nor should be the mere recipients of standards and norms that they did not adequately participate in shaping," said Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

"We must ensure that technological transformations of the 21st century do not reproduce the economic imbalances of previous decades," Wagner said.

She made the remarks at a Security Council session dedicated to AI that featured top executives of leading labs, including Sam Altman from OpenAI and Dario Amodei from Anthropic, who urged governments to work together to manage the technology.

Underscoring the surge in interest in the subject, Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman of Bangladesh, who chaired the UN debate this year, said that, "four years ago, AI was raised in this hall by only five delegations – this year, 128 delegations addressed it."