The Baha’i International Community partnered with the United Arab Emirates and the NGO Committee on Social Development today to host an online event entitled “Artificial Intelligence: Ethical Dimensions of the Virtual World”. 

Drawing more than 100 diplomats, policy makers, and civil society actors, the panel discussion was organized under the auspices of the United Nations’s 59th session of the Commission for Social Development. It responded to the Commission’s focus on the role of digital technologies in providing for the well-being of all.

“AI holds great potential to channel the human spirit to address humanity’s most pressing challenges. But that potential can only be truly released when such technologies reflect the full diversity of perspectives and values among the peoples of the world,” said Soraya Bagheri, who moderated the event. 

Panel speakers explored a range of ethical questions such as how artificial intelligence can address the needs of diverse local communities, or how innovation and regulation can work hand in hand to  advance the common good.  

“An ethical framework underlying AI needs to be embraced by more countries and organizations as a key component of business models, not an optional accessory,” noted Major Hamad Khatir, Director of International Partnership in the United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of the Interior, in sharing his government’s experience in establishing the world’s first Ministry of Artificial Intelligence. 

Ms. Yu Ping Chan, Senior Programme Officer in the Office of the Envoy on Technology at the United Nations, was one of several speakers who emphasized the need for stronger systems of coordination and governance at the global level. “There really is a need for us, as an international community, to consider what the future of AI will bring and how we can come together to better address the challenges,” she noted. 

The event expanded on concepts found in the BIC’s formal statement to the Commission, entitled “Reflections of Our Values: Digital Technologies and a Just Transition”, accompanied by a short video.  

The Commission is taking place largely online this year, in light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. This virtual format—reflecting in real time some of the themes explored in the Commission—has allowed the BIC to field a diverse delegation incorporating members in locales ranging from Cameroon and Chile to Puerto Rico and Zambia.