Act quickly to shape the future of Artificial Intelligence

August 1st 2023

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In a recent op ed in the Financial Times, U.S. secretry of Sate, Anthony Blinken and fellow cabinet minister, Gina Raimondo, said the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not whether to use it, but how to use it. Read More » “The future of AI – whether it makes our societies more or less equitable, unlocks breakthroughs or becomes a tool of authoritarians – is up to us,” Blinken wrote.

“This era brings serious potential hazards. They include the risk of AI generating false information, reinforcing bias and discrimination, being misused for repressive or destabilizing purpose or proliferating the knowledge to make a bioweapon or conduct a cyber.

“Even with these risks, which we are determined to minimize – AI holds an exhilarating potential to improve people’s lives and help solve some of the world’s biggest challenges, from curing Cancer to mitigating the effects of climate change to solving global food insecurity.”

To mould the future of AI, the world must ack quickly and also collectively, Blinken and Raimondo, the U.S. commerce secretary, advocate.

“No country or company alone can shape the future of AI. The U.S. has taken an important step [commitments from U.S. companies to enhance trust], but only with the combined focus, ingenuity and co-operation of the international community will we be able to fully understand and safely harness the potential of AI,” they said.

Blinken and Riamondo said developing countries are crucial to the global discussion of AI. “India will play a critical role, and we are working on inclusivity of AI in discussions in the United Nations,” they said.

“We will partner with countries around the world as well as the private sector and civil society to advance a key goal of these commitments: creating AI systems that make the lives of people better.”