UN Launches Global AI Advisory Panel
The United Nations has established an Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence to assess the societal, ethical, and economic impacts of the technology. Announced by Secretary General António Guterres, the panel comprises dozens of leading researchers. Its mission is to provide evidence-based guidance for global policymakers, similar to the role of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The panel's creation was not without controversy; the UN General Assembly approved the 40-member body in a 117-2 vote. The United States and Paraguay cast the dissenting votes, with a US representative stating that AI governance is not a matter for the UN to dictate and expressing concerns about potential influence from authoritarian regimes. Ukraine and Tunisia abstained from the vote. Ukraine's abstention was explicitly due to the inclusion of a Russian expert on the panel. Despite the opposition, key US allies, including the U.K. and many European nations, voted in favor of establishing the panel. The 40 members of the scientific panel were selected from a pool of over 2,600 candidates and will serve three-year terms. The roster is multidisciplinary, featuring not only AI specialists but also experts in fields like linguistics and human rights, and includes Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa. This new body is designed to function as a scientific assessment body, not a regulatory one, and will synthesize existing research rather than conduct its own. Its structure is intended to mirror the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), providing foundational, evidence-based reports to inform global policymaking. The panel is set to work on an accelerated timeline. Its first report is expected in July, in time to inform the Global Dialogue on AI Governance, aiming to create a shared scientific understanding for international cooperation.
