Islamabad, In a landmark development for the ethical use of artificial intelligence (AI), eight leading global technology companies have pledged to adhere to UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Ethics of AI. The commitment, signed today, includes integrating UNESCO’s ethical framework into the design and deployment of AI systems.

According to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the agreement was signed by GSMA, INNIT, Lenovo Group, LG AI Research, Mastercard, Microsoft, Salesforce, and Telefonica at the 2nd UNESCO Global Forum on AI in Kranj, Slovenia. This commitment represents a significant collaboration between the public and private sectors to ensure human rights are upheld in AI development and usage.

UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay emphasized the importance of this alliance, calling on more tech stakeholders to join the initiative. The agreement mandates these companies to conduct due diligence to meet safety standards, identify adverse effects of AI, and implement timely measures to prevent, mitigate, or remedy them in compliance with domestic legislation. It highlights the necessity of both ex-ante (pre-deployment) testing and ex-post (post-deployment) risk assessments and mitigation for AI systems.

UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, adopted by all its Member States in November 2021, stands as the world’s first and only normative framework on AI ethics. Since its adoption, over 50 countries have actively engaged in its implementation, with significant progress in multilateral cooperation.

Furthermore, UNESCO has been advancing private sector collaboration, leading to the formation of a Business Council for Ethics of AI, co-chaired by Microsoft and Telefonica. The Council focuses on enhancing technical capacities in ethics and AI, developing an Ethical Impact Assessment tool, and contributing to intelligent regional regulations.

This new commitment by major tech companies marks a crucial step in ensuring the responsible and ethical development and application of AI technologies worldwide.