Statement by Ambassador James Kariuki, UK Deputy Permanent
Representative to the UN, at the UN Security Council meeting on
artificial intelligence.
"Thank you Secretary Blinken. Let me start by thanking the US
Presidency for convening this important meeting and for the
international leadership you have shown in the field of AI
governance. That includes the first ever General Assembly
resolution on artificial intelligence.
I am also grateful to Professors LeCun and Professor Li for their
insightful briefings.
And I would like to pay tribute to the Secretary General for his
consistent campaign to bring to our attention the major
opportunities and significant risks of this transformative
technology, and to shape the international response.
It is eighteen months since the UK convened the first Security
Council meeting on the security implications of artificial
intelligence. As the Secretary-General said, things have moved
swiftly since then.
Significant progress has been made in international
collaboration, including the UN Global Digital Compact, and the
UK-initiated AI Summit series.
In addition to the US GA resolution, we adopted the Chinese-led
General Assembly resolution on AI capacity building, both by
consensus.
And two Nobel Prizes were awarded for AI innovators, both to
British scientists.
Today, I will focus on our priorities for peace and security, the
opportunities AI presents in this field, and how we can share
those benefits through capacity building.
First, the UK recognises that AI brings risks that could escalate
conflicts and cause harm.
But it also presents significant opportunities to support
international peace and security, including better
decision-making, improved early warning systems and enhanced
planning to support resilience and emergency preparedness.
The UK welcomes progress to increase international understanding
in a military context through the Responsible AI in the Military
Domain Summit, and the US-led Political Declaration on
Responsible Military Use of AI.
The General Assembly resolution on “Artificial intelligence in
the military domain” presents an important opportunity to advance
efforts for AI's safe and responsible development.
AI also offers significant opportunities for peacekeeping. AI can
improve Missions' data collection, analysis efforts, and their
situational awareness and decision-making.
The UK is therefore, at the request of the UN's Department of
Peace Operations, authoring a paper on the potential uses of AI
in Peacekeeping.
Second, President, AI presents huge opportunities for broader
areas that impact upon peace and security, such as the enjoyment
of human rights; by facilitating greater access to information or
improving interpretation of medical data to aid early health
diagnoses.
As an inaugural signatory to the Council of Europe's AI
Convention, the UK is committed to protecting from the risks
posed by AI to human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.
Finally, the UK is also committed to sharing these opportunities
through capacity building. It is important that in contributing
to international peace and security, we aim to narrow digital
divides.
Through the AI for Development collaboration, the UK has donated
£58 million to funding multidisciplinary responsible AI research
labs in six African countries, with more planned for 2025.
Ultimately, we must seize the opportunities and grasp the
challenges of AI, including those for international peace and
security, decisively and optimistically."
