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UN passes resolution to protect against malicious AI

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas Greenfield notes that the U.S. and other countries have already taken measures to address AI.
Posted at 4:52 PM, Mar 22, 2024

The U.N. General Assembly approved a first-of-its-kind resolution on artificial intelligence this week. 

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas Greenfield was instrumental in passing the resolution, which warns against malicious development. 

Greenfield notes that the U.S. and other countries have already taken measures to address the safety of AI. 

 "What we have done as a country, first, President Biden announced that we were going to engage in this when he was here in September," she said. "We have engaged with the private sector, gotten private-sector entities to agree to certain principles. And so what this does is it sets a platform for countries to base their own initiative."

Greenfield noted that the tech industry has been consulted on this issue, and they are getting buy-in,

"They're deploying AI, so they have to be part of any discussions about it," she said.

Despite all of the countries signing on to the resolution, it is non-binding. Greenfield appears to have faith that even countries like China will abide by the resolution.

"The fact that they wanted to join consensus, I think, is a positive sign," she said. 

With the U.S. taking action on AI and the European Union passing its own set of regulations last week, Greenfield believes progress on this issue is being made. 

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