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UN agency pushes global AI ethics norm that bans use of the technology for social scoring, mass surveillance purposes
- Unesco’s AI guidelines oppose use of the technology for ‘invasive’ applications that ‘infringe on human rights and fundamental freedoms’
- The UN agency’s recommendations come more than a month after China introduced its own set of ethical guidelines governing AI
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The world’s first international ethics guidelines for artificial intelligence, which ban the technology’s use for “social scoring or mass surveillance purposes”, have been adopted by a United Nations specialised agency that AI powerhouses the United States and Israel withdrew from in 2018.
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The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), which has 193 member states and is widely credited for protecting landmarks known as World Heritage Sites, said the guidelines serve as a global set of “recommendations” instead of a binding agreement, according to a statement on Thursday.
While major AI proponents, such as China, see the technology as a tool to help transform a broad swathe of industries, its various applications – from apps, social media and online retail to social scoring platforms and surveillance systems – have raised what Unesco describes as “fundamental ethical concerns” that may lead to “discrimination, inequality [and] digital divides”.
The 28-page Unesco document, officially known as the “Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence”, bans the use of AI for “social scoring or mass surveillance purposes” because “these types of technologies are invasive and they infringe on human rights and fundamental freedoms”, said Gabriela Ramos, the agency’s lead spokeswoman for the guidelines, without specifying any country or enterprise that promotes such activities.
The guidelines call for “more transparency over the control of personal data” and “greater limits and awareness of the ability of AI to mimic human traits and behaviours”.
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