UN Names New Independent International Scientific Panel On AI

The UN on Wednesday announced the list of experts nominated to the General Assembly to serve on a new Independent International Scientific Panel tasked with assessing how Artificial Intelligence is transforming lives worldwide.

“AI is moving at the speed of light,” said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, underscoring the urgency of regulating the breakthrough technology. “We need shared understandings to build effective guardrails, unlock innovation for the common good, and foster cooperation. The Panel will help the world separate fact from fakes, and science from slop.”

Guterres convened a group of leading technologists and academics and tasked them with advancing recommendations for safe governance.

After a series of in-depth discussions, the experts came back with a vision for an approach to AI governance that could benefit humanity. Amongst the ideas was the creation of the International Scientific Panel – independent but supported by the UN.

The Panel will be the “first global, fully independent scientific body dedicated to helping close the AI knowledge gap and assess the real impacts of AI across economies and societies,” according to the UN chief.

Panellists will exchange ideas, run “deep dives” into priority areas such as health, energy and education, and share the latest leading-edge research.

Guterres and Amandeep Gill, his Special Envoy on Technology, told reporters that the names of 40 prospective members would be submitted to the General Assembly, which will have the ultimate say over the panel’s membership.

Gill said the experts on the list were chosen for their globally recognised expertise in AI.

The nominees include Sonia Livingstone, a UK professor at the London School of Economics and an advisor on media literacy and rights in the digital environment; Balaraman Ravindran the head of the Department of Data Science and AI at the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras; and Maria Ressa, the renowned Philippine journalist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

The General Assembly is expected to make the final decision on membership on February 12, and the Panel’s first report is due to be delivered by July.

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