On Monday U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres gave support to a proposal by a group of artificial intelligence executives supporting the creation of an international artificial intelligence watchdog agency, based on the model of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Since ChatGPT launched six months ago and went on to become the fastest growing app of all time, the public has been captivated with the idea of generative AI technology which can take a prompt and reply with authoritative sounding prose. AI has also become a focus of concern due to its ability to create misinformation, from hallucinating text, which espouses incorrect material as real, to deepfake videos and photos which appear to be real.
Guterres told reporters, “Alarm bells over the latest form of artificial intelligence – generative AI – are deafening. And they are loudest from the developers who designed it. We must take those warnings seriously.”
He announced the by the end of the year, he intends to begin work on assembling a high-level AI advisory body to perform regular reviews of AI governance arrangements, and offer recommendations on how they can align with the rule of law, human rights, and the common good.
However he added on Monday, “I would be favorable to the idea that we could have an artificial intelligence agency … inspired by what the international agency of atomic energy is today.”
Gutters said that although he found the idea of such a model “very interesting,” he noted that “only member states can create it, not the Secretariat of the United Nations.”
Based in Vienna, the IAEA was created in 1957, and promotes the use of nuclear technologies in a safe, secure, and peaceful way, while maintaining vigilance for any possible violations of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). There are 176 member states which belong to it.
Last Month, OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPt noted that an IAEAlike body could place restrictions on deployment, check for compliance with safety standards, and monitor usage of computing power.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also voiced support for the idea, saying he would like for Britain to be the global home for AI safety regulation. Later this year, Britain is set to host a summit on how the risks of AI can be tackled by a coordinated international action.
Although Guterres noted he supported the idea of the summit in Britain, he said it would require that “serious work” precede it.
