Top UN official calls for AI adoption to take on climate change

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’re running out of time,” stated Doreen Bogdan-Martin, secretary-general of the UN’s International Telecommunication Union at the AI for Good Summit in Geneva.

Almost eight years after the UN’s adoption of its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, only 12% of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are on track, and poverty, hunger, pollution, biodiversity loss, and the global temperature remain on the rise, stated Bogdan-Martin.

For this reason: “Using AI to help put the 2030 agenda back on track is no longer an opportunity, it’s actually our responsibility,” she urged.

“AI development will not wait, the Sustainable Development Goals will not wait, and failure is not an option,” the secretary-general added.

Within the next seven years, AI risks “spiralling out of control” if left unchecked by industry, according to the ITU, which also warned of a growing digital divide that risks seeing only the wealthier benefit from new technologies.

“Unchecked AI advancements lead to social unrest, geopolitical instability, and economic disparity on a scale we’ve never seen before,” explained Bogdan-Martin.

“It’s essential that we address all the forms of bias – and that we develop ethical and rights-base systems that ensure transparency and accountability.”

If AI lives up to its promise, then the secretary-general claims that industry will look back and believe: “We did the right thing by enacting global governance frameworks allowing innovation to flourish while addressing all ethical, safety, and accountability considerations.”

In her keynote, Bogdan-Martin – who was the first woman in the ITU’s 157-year old history to be elected secretary-general – called upon leaders in AI: “Together, let’s make [AI] innovative, let’s make it safe, and let’s make it responsible for all.”

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the United Nations specialised agency for telecommunications and information and communication technologies (ICTs), and has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

Speaking on the topic of sustainability at the TNW conference in Amsterdam last month, Google Deepminds COO Lila Ibrahim also challenged industry leaders: “It’s critical that we address the importance of diversity, equality, and inclusion now.

“It’s not something that we can wait for, and it’s not the responsibility of any one organisation. This is a requirement within all our organisations,” she said.