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The Story: The United Nations has asked the world to come together to discuss AI governance.

Last Thursday, António Guterres, The United Nations Secretary-General, announced the creation of a 38-member advisory body to address proper AI regulatory conduct. Among the members of the body are tech executives including Sony CTO Hiroaki Kitano, OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, and Microsoft’s Chief Responsible AI Officer Natasha Crampton. Members also include government officials and academics.

The United States, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and China are some of the prominent member countries who plan to participate.

When discussing the group, Guterres stated, quote, “The transformative potential of AI for good is difficult even to grasp.” He continues, quote, “And without entering into a host of doomsday scenarios, it is already clear that the malicious use of AI could undermine trust in institutions, weaken social cohesion, and threaten democracy itself.”

Details of how the advisory body will function and what exactly it plans to accomplish is mostly undetermined, but it seems that its immediate goal is to build a global scientific consensus on the risks and challenges of AI. The 39 members will “offer diverse perspectives and options on how AI can be governed for the common good.”

The Expert Take: Rudina Seseri, founder and managing partner at Glasswing Ventures, is a proponent of establishing regulation: “AI must be regulated. It’s a very powerful technology. It’s not inherently good or bad, but guardrails must be put into place.”

Seseri thinks the key to successful regulation is going to be clarity. Clarity that allows companies to build their products and know that “we are within the rules.”

China’s inclusion in the advisory body raises questions about what the country would be willing to follow if it was asked to sign an international law concerning AI. Seseri doesn’t expect China will want any part of restrictions related to data privacy:

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