The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday unanimously adopted the first global resolution on artificial intelligence to promote the protection of personal data, monitor AI for risks and protect human rights, US officials said, Reuters reported.

The non-binding resolution, proposed by the United States and co-sponsored by China and 121 other countries, has been debated for three months and also advocates stronger privacy policies, officials told reporters before the resolution was passed.

“We’re navigating turbulent waters with rapidly changing technology, which means it’s more important than ever to be guided by the light of our values,” said one senior administration official, describing the resolution as “the first truly global consensus document on AI.” .

The resolution is the latest in a series of initiatives by governments around the world to regulate the development of artificial intelligence over fears that it could be used to, among other things, disrupt democratic processes, fuel fraud or lead to drastic job losses.

“The design, development, implementation and incorrect or malicious use of artificial intelligence systems… pose risks that can… undermine the protection, promotion and exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms,” the text of the resolution reads.

The global resolution on artificial intelligence was also approved by Russia and China

When asked if the negotiators faced resistance from Russia or China – UN member states that also voted for the document – the officials admitted that there were “a lot of heated conversations… But we actively cooperated with China, Russia, Cuba and other countries that are often not on the same wavelength as us in matters.”

“We believe the resolution strikes the right balance between continuing development and at the same time protecting human rights,” said one of the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

EU Law on Artificial Intelligence

In November, the US, UK and other countries unveiled the first detailed international agreement on how to keep artificial intelligence safe, requiring companies to build AI systems that are “secure by design”.

Europe is ahead of the United States as the European Parliament this month adopted an interim agreement to ensure that artificial intelligence is reliable, safe and respects EU fundamental rights, moving closer to adopting the world’s first artificial intelligence rules.

The Biden administration has pressured lawmakers to regulate artificial intelligence, but the divided US Congress has not made much progress.

The so-called “Artificial Intelligence Act”, an EU-approved law, aims, for example, to ensure that biometric identification systems that have artificial intelligence behind them can only be used under the supervision of a judge or a judicial authority.

Thus, the new rules prohibit certain uses of artificial intelligence that threaten the rights of citizens, including biometric classification systems based on sensitive characteristics of individuals. Aimlessly extracting facial images from the Internet or CCTV footage to create facial recognition databases is also one of the prohibited uses. Emotion recognition in the workplace and schools, social assessment, predictive control systems (if they are based only on profiling or analyzing a person’s characteristics), and artificial intelligence that manipulate people’s behavior or exploit vulnerabilities will also not be allowed for humans.

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