New Delhi, 20 February (H.S.): At the AI Impact Summit held on Friday at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres asserted that science-based AI governance does not impede progress but rather serves as an accelerator for solutions.

He cautioned that without shared global standards for artificial intelligence, a fragmented patchwork of regulations would emerge worldwide, inevitably escalating costs, undermining security, and exacerbating inequalities.

Guterres emphasized that clear, trust-building rules provide essential direction to businesses, enabling innovation to advance swiftly along the correct trajectory.

Safeguarding Progress Through Governance

Science-based governance neither halts advancement nor stifles creativity; instead, it renders progress more secure, equitable, and broadly shareable across societies. The UN leader stressed the imperative to assess AI's profound impacts—ranging from child safety vulnerabilities and labor market disruptions to risks of mass manipulation—well in advance, empowering nations to prepare, protect, and invest in their citizens proactively.

Challenges of Fragmented Policies

Guterres highlighted the current era's daunting international cooperation landscape, marked by eroded trust and intensifying technological rivalries, which have spawned inconsistent policies and technical standards across countries and regions.

Such regulatory disparities would not only inflate operational costs but also erode safety protocols while deepening global divides.

Vision for Collaborative Benchmarks

Illustrating his point, he noted that establishing common benchmarks would empower a startup in Delhi to scale confidently on the global stage, with safety standards evolving in tandem with technological frontiers.

While science offers invaluable guidance, ultimate decisions must remain firmly in human hands; Guterres underscored the critical need for meaningful human oversight in high-stakes domains such as justice, healthcare, and lending. Citizens, he insisted, deserve the right to comprehend and contest the processes underpinning algorithmic decisions.

Call for Evidence-Based Policies

Advocating a shift from hype and fear to facts and evidence, the Secretary-General urged transforming AI from a wellspring of uncertainty into a reliable engine propelling the Sustainable Development Goals. He called upon policymakers worldwide to craft regulations as astute and adaptive as the technologies they seek to steer.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar