New Delhi: With Artificial Intelligence (AI) being used as a weapon to spread disinformation campaigns and increasing digitalisation threatening people's jobs, the foreign ministers of India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) have called for human-centric, responsible and ethical use of emerging technologies.
"The ministers emphasised the goal of improving people's lives and bridging the digital divides, in line with the consensus reached during the World Summits of the Information Society (WSIS), by achieving a human-centered, inclusive, and ethical approach to the responsible development, deployment and use of emerging technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI)," a joint declaration issued following a standalone meeting of the IBSA foreign ministers held on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro earlier this week stated.
The standalone meeting was attended by India's Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan, Brazil's Minister of Foreign Affairs Mauro Vieira and South Africa's Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Grace Naledi Pandor.
"In that sense, they stressed the opportunity that the upcoming United Nations Summit of the Future can give direction towards enhanced global digital governance that is effective, inclusive and fair, provided that the proposed Global Digital Compact (GDC), to be agreed upon during the Summit, creates mechanisms to ensure that all countries benefit from the ongoing technological revolution," the declaration stated.
The use of AI in spreading disinformation campaigns is a growing concern. While AI itself is not inherently malicious, it can be exploited by individuals or groups with malicious intent to create and disseminate false information more effectively. Automated content creation, social media manipulation, personalised targeting, algorithmic manipulation, chatbots and conversational agents and deepfakes are some of the ways of using AI in disinformation campaigns.
So, what is WSIS and what were the key outcomes and consensus reached?
The WSIS is a series of UN conferences and summits that aim to address the challenges and opportunities of the information society. The summit has been held in two phases: the first phase took place in Geneva in 2003, and the second phase in Tunis in 2005. The WSIS aimed to bridge the digital divide, promote the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for development, and address various issues related to the information society. There were several key outcomes of the WSIS and consensus was reached on how to deal with the challenges posed by an increasingly digitalised world.
The Geneva Declaration of Principles, adopted in 2003, outlined a set of principles related to the information society. These principles covered areas such as the role of ICTs in development, the importance of freedom of expression, and the need to address the digital divide. The 2003 summit also produced the Geneva Plan of Action, which detailed specific steps and initiatives to be taken at the national and international levels to achieve the goals set out in the Declaration of Principles. It covered issues such as infrastructure development, capacity building, and the promotion of ICTs in various sectors.
The Tunis Agenda for the Information Society, adopted in 2005, provided a framework for the implementation of the WSIS outcomes. It established the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) to facilitate discussions on internet-related issues, and it called for continued efforts to bridge the digital divide and promote the use of ICTs for sustainable development. The summit affirmed the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach, involving governments, the private sector, civil society, and international organisations in decision-making processes related to the internet.
The WSIS also recognised the importance of cultural diversity in the information society and emphasised the ethical dimensions of the use of ICTs. It aimed to ensure that the benefits of the information society were shared by all, and that the potential negative impacts were mitigated.
The WSIS outcomes continue to influence global discussions on the role of ICTs in development, internet governance, and the broader implications of the information society. While progress has been made, challenges such as cybersecurity, privacy, and ensuring universal access to ICTs remain ongoing concerns in the evolving digital landscape.
What is the United Nations Summit of the Future?
In June 2020, the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations was commemorated with a declaration from Member States. This declaration outlined 12 overarching commitments and urged Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to provide recommendations addressing both current and future challenges. Responding to this, in September 2021, the Secretary-General released the report titled 'Our Common Agenda'. This report served as a wake-up call, emphasising the need to accelerate the implementation of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDHs) and fulfill the commitments outlined in the UN75 Declaration.
The report identified gaps that had emerged since 2015, some of which required new intergovernmental agreements. Consequently, it proposed the convening of a Summit of the Future to establish a new global consensus, preparing for a future marked by risks and opportunities. The General Assembly appreciated the report as "rich and substantive" and agreed to schedule the Summit for September 22-23, 2024. Anticipated to be action-oriented, a Pact for the Future is also expected to be agreed upon by member states through intergovernmental negotiations, addressing issues they collectively choose to prioritise.
What is the proposed Global Digital Compact?
