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Foreign Secretary to chair UN Security Council session on AI

The rapid development of the emerging technology has prompted fears abouts its potential.

Dominic McGrath
Tuesday 18 July 2023 00:01 BST
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly will be in New York to chair the UN session on AI (Victoria Jones/PA)
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly will be in New York to chair the UN session on AI (Victoria Jones/PA) (PA Wire)

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The Foreign Secretary will call for international co-operation on artificial intelligence at a UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday.

The rapid development of the emerging technology has prompted fears abouts its potential, as well as hope of the possibilities it could offer.

Questions about potential regulation has been a recurring issue in recent months among politicians and policymakers across the world.

A UN Security Council session on the technology – the first the organisation has held – will be chaired in New York by the UK.

The briefing is expected to discuss the potential implications of artificial intelligence on global peace and security, with discussions also set to focus on how the safe and responsible use of the technology can be achieved.

We must seize these opportunities and grasp the challenges of AI – including those for international peace and security – decisively, optimistically and from a position of global unity on essential principles

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly expected to say

James Cleverly is expected to call for the “widest coalition of international actors” to respond to AI.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has sought to position the UK as a world leader on the technology, with London set to host the first major summit on the issue later this year.

“No country will be untouched by AI, so we must involve and engage the widest coalition of international actors from all sectors,” the Foreign Secretary is expected to say.

“The UK is home to many of the world’s trail-blazing AI developers and foremost AI safety researchers.

“So this autumn the UK plans to bring world leaders together for the first major global summit on AI safety.

“Our shared goal will be to consider the risks of AI and decide how they can be reduced through co-ordinated action.”

“Momentous opportunities – on a scale that we can barely imagine – lie before us.

“We must seize these opportunities and grasp the challenges of AI – including those for international peace and security – decisively, optimistically and from a position of global unity on essential principles.”

Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary Chloe Smith hailed the briefing session as an “important milestone”.

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