UN Security Council Secretary-General Guterres called for the establishment of a global regulatory body to supervise artificial intelligence, in much the same way as other institutions supervise aviation, climate and nuclear energy. The proposed institution is composed of artificial intelligence experts, sharing their expertise with government and administrative agencies that may lack relevant technical knowledge.
Zhang Jun, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations, pointed out that in order to seek technological hegemony and build exclusive circles, some developed countries maliciously obstruct the technological development of other countries with various excuses and actions and artificially create technological barriers, which China resolutely opposes.
On July 18th, local time, the UN Security Council held a high-level public meeting with the theme of "Opportunities and risks brought by artificial intelligence to international peace and security". Antonio guterres, Secretary-General of the Security Council, called for the establishment of a global regulatory body to supervise this new technology.
This is the first time that the Security Council has held a meeting on artificial intelligence. Zhang Jun, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations, put forward five principles on the governance of artificial intelligence: first, adhere to ethics first; second, adhere to safety and controllability; third, adhere to fairness and inclusiveness; fourth, adhere to openness and tolerance; and fifth, adhere to peaceful use.
It is still far from reaching a legally binding resolution.
On the same day, Guterres, Jack Clark, co-founder of Anthropic, an artificial intelligence startup, and Ceng Yi, a researcher at the Institute of Automation, China Academy of Sciences, gave a briefing.
Guterres warned that artificial intelligence is playing a role in many fields, but it may also be used by malicious people, including using it for terrorism, inciting hatred and violence. He welcomed the call for the establishment of a new UN agency, saying it would help to maximize the role of artificial intelligence and better manage risks. He said that the artificial intelligence regulatory agency of the United Nations should standardize, supervise and enforce the rules of artificial intelligence, and the supervision method is roughly the same as that of other institutions in supervising aviation, climate and nuclear energy.
At the meeting, diplomats and leading experts in the field of artificial intelligence explained to the Security Council the risks and threats of artificial intelligence technology, as well as its scientific and social benefits. They said that although the development speed of this technology is accelerating, there are still many unknowns. "It’s like making an engine without understanding the combustion principle." Clark said that private companies should not be the only creators and regulators of artificial intelligence.
The body proposed by the Security Council is composed of experts in the field of artificial intelligence, who will share their expertise with government and administrative agencies that may lack technical knowledge to solve the threat of artificial intelligence.
At present, it is still far from reaching a legally binding resolution on governance. However, most diplomats support the formulation of global governance mechanisms and international rules.
James Cleverly, the British Foreign Secretary who presided over the meeting, said: "No country is immune from artificial intelligence, so we must involve the broadest alliance of international actors from all fields." Britain holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council this month.
China: Oppose the use of artificial intelligence to seek military hegemony.
Zhang Jun pointed out in his speech that artificial intelligence, as a "double-edged sword", is good or bad, good or evil, depending on how human beings use it, how to regulate it, and how to coordinate science, development and security. The international community should uphold the true spirit of multilateralism, conduct extensive dialogues, constantly build consensus, and explore the guiding principles for the governance of artificial intelligence. China supports the United Nations to play a central coordinating role in this regard, supports Secretary-General Guterres to convene in-depth discussions among all parties, and supports all countries, especially developing countries, to fully participate in and make contributions.
Zhang Jun put forward five principles about artificial intelligence governance. First, adhere to ethics first. To ensure that artificial intelligence technology will always benefit mankind, we must take "people-oriented" and "intelligence for goodness" as the basic criteria to standardize the development direction of artificial intelligence and avoid this technology becoming a "runaway wild horse". On this basis, gradually establish and improve the artificial intelligence ethics, laws and regulations and policy system.
The second is to adhere to safety and controllability. There are many uncertainties in the development and application of artificial intelligence related technologies, and safety is the bottom line that must be kept. The international community should strengthen risk awareness, establish an effective risk early warning and response mechanism, ensure that risks beyond human control do not occur, ensure that machines do not kill themselves, and ensure that humans have the ability to press the stop button at critical moments.
Guterres said on the same day that the United Nations must reach a legally binding agreement before 2026 to ban the use of artificial intelligence in automated war weapons.
The third is to adhere to fairness and inclusiveness. Zhang Jun said that developing countries’ equal access to and utilization of artificial intelligence technologies, products and services is essential to bridge the technological gap, digital gap and development gap between North and South. In order to seek hegemony in science and technology and build an exclusive circle, some developed countries maliciously obstruct the technological development of other countries with various excuses and actions and artificially create barriers to science and technology. China firmly opposes this.
The fourth is to adhere to openness and tolerance. The development of science and technology should achieve a relative balance between promoting technological progress and ensuring safe application. The best way is to maintain open cooperation, encourage interdisciplinary, cross-disciplinary, cross-regional and cross-border exchanges and dialogues, oppose various forms of "small courtyard walls" and "decoupling and breaking chains", and create an open, inclusive, fair and non-discriminatory environment for scientific and technological development.
The fifth is to adhere to peaceful use. It is necessary to focus on tapping the potential of artificial intelligence in promoting sustainable development, promoting cross-disciplinary integration and innovation, and better empowering global development. The Security Council can deeply study the application and influence of artificial intelligence in conflict situations and take measures to enrich the United Nations peace toolbox. All countries should uphold a responsible national defense policy and oppose the use of artificial intelligence to seek military hegemony and undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries.
Zhang Jun said that China adheres to the concept of the community of human destiny and has always participated in the global cooperation and governance of artificial intelligence with a highly responsible attitude, and has successively submitted two position papers on the military application and ethical governance of artificial intelligence on the UN platform. China is willing to work with the international community to actively implement global development initiatives, global security initiatives and global civilization initiatives in the field of artificial intelligence, adhere to development priorities, safeguard common security, promote cross-cultural exchanges and cooperation, join hands with countries to share artificial intelligence technological achievements, and jointly prevent and respond to risk challenges.