Eight technology companies, including the American IT giant Microsoft, signed a pact for “Building More Ethical Artificial Intelligence” yesterday, during a global forum organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Slovenia, according to the French news agency.
A statement from the organization quoted its Director-General, Audrey Azoulay, as saying that this is a “significant new step” following the adoption by more than 50 countries in November 2021 of the world’s first global rules on artificial intelligence, and hopes to “obtain the same commitment from major companies.” She emphasized that this alliance is “essential for developing artificial intelligence that serves the public good.”
In addition to Microsoft, signatories to the pact include the LG AI Research Center of the South Korean conglomerate LG, the Chinese group Lenovo, the credit card company Mastercard, the American software group Salesforce, and the Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica.
The signatories pledged in the document to “fully undertake their role in protecting human rights in the design, development, purchase, sale, and use of artificial intelligence.”
Practically, the pact requires companies to establish “verification procedures” to assess risks and address “negative impacts of artificial intelligence within a reasonable timeframe.”
The agreement was signed at the Krans Conference Center near the Slovenian capital Ljubljana, where the second UNESCO Global Forum on this topic is being held.
This comes just days after EU member states on Friday approved unprecedented legislation at the global level to regulate artificial intelligence, following intense negotiations on balancing innovation freedom and maintaining security.
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