A new coalition dedicated to governance of the AI technology, Global Partnership on AI (GPAI), has been launched to ensure that the technology is used responsibly, respecting human rights and democratic values.
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Nearly two years after France and Canada announced plans to form the global group, it is launched by the two countries together with Australia, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the European Union (which is in the process of formal accession). Notably, the US had initially objected to the initiative arguing that potential overregulation would negatively influence US innovation, but last month decided to join. According to the White House's chief technology officer, Michael Kratsios, the US wants to help guide AI to serve democratic interests, rather than authoritarian ones, implying to China.
Experts from the private sector, academia and non-profit organisations will
form the international panel to lead and coordinate AI research activities. Part
of the group is deep learning pioneer Yoshua Bengio of the Mila research
institute in artificial intelligence in Quebec.
The start of GPAI will be with the opening of two Centres of Expertise. One
is the International Centre of Expertise in Montréal for the Advancement of
Artificial Intelligence. Here the first GPAI Multistakeholder Experts Group
Plenary will take place in December 2020. The other is a hub in Paris based in
the National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation. The
work will be coordinated by the GPAI Secretariat that will be set up shortly at
the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which has
itself developed a set of AI principles adopted internationally. Earlier this
year it has launched the OECD AI Policy Observatory (OECD.AI),
a platform “to share and shape public policies for responsible, trustworthy and
beneficial AI.”
The four main themes for GPAI will be responsible AI and data governance
(managed by the Montréal centre) as well as the future of work and innovation
and commercialisation (managed by the Paris centre). Deployment of AI in
response to the COVID-19 pandemic is also on the agenda.
Sources: Ministry
of Europe and Foreign Affairs, OECD
Image credit: NicoElNino via iStock
