The UN forms a group of 40 independent scientists to evaluate the impact of AI

Guterres informed the press today that he sent to the General Assembly a list of 40 experts from all regions of the world to integrate this panel, whose members will act in their personal capacity and independently of governments, companies or institutions.

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The creation of the panel was approved by the General Assembly in August of last year, after several months of negotiations, through a resolution drafted by Spain and Costa Rica, about which the United States expressed reservations.

The resolution then established that the panel will focus its work exclusively on non-military areas, leaving out any evaluation related to the use of AI in war or defense applications, one of the most sensitive issues in the current context of geopolitical and technological rivalry.

Thus, the panel will be made up of 40 members with a three-year mandate, selected with criteria of geographical balance and disciplinary diversity. It will have two presidencies, one occupied by a representative of a developed country and the other by one of a developing country.

The panel will prepare an annual report of a “non-prescriptive” nature, that is, it will have a consultative and non-regulatory nature, which will seek to serve as a reference for Member States and other international actors.

Its first report should be ready before the Global Dialogue on AI Governance, scheduled for July.

As Guterres explained today, it is the first global scientific body “fully independent and specifically dedicated to AI.”

He added that its mission will be to “reduce the knowledge gap between countries and provide evaluations based on scientific evidence on the opportunities, risks and economic and social impacts” of this technology.

“AI moves at the speed of light and no country can see the full picture alone,” said the top head of the UN, who insisted on the need to “build shared understandings that allow for the establishment of safeguards, fostering innovation for the common good and strengthening international cooperation.”

Likewise, he warned that AI is “profoundly transforming economies and societies.”

“We have to decide if we will shape this transformation together or if we will allow it to shape us,” he said.