- Foreign Secretary to outline vision at UNGA of how Artificial
Intelligence (AI) can help increase the impact of international
development
- “AI for Development” programme will boost skills, innovation
and computing power in Africa and will launch around the
UK-hosted AI Safety Summit this November
- UK also announces at UNGA over £1 million to harness the
power of AI to help predict conflicts and humanitarian crises,
accelerating delivery of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
The UK will set out an ambitious vision for how the enormous
potential of AI technology can be harnessed to speed up
development in the world’s poorest nations at UNGA today.
The Foreign Secretary will call on international partners to come
together to coordinate efforts for AI development in Africa and
accelerate progress towards the UN’s Sustainable Development
Goals. In leading the way, the UK will launch the ‘AI for
Development’ programme, in partnership with Canada’s
International Development Research Centre to focus on helping
developing countries, initially in Africa, build local AI skills
and boost innovation.
The announcement coincides with the UK co-convening an event on
AI in the margins of the UN General Assembly, where the Foreign
Secretary will attend as part of our efforts to drive the global
conversation on AI. The session, chaired by US Secretary of State
Antony Blinken, will bring together governments, tech firms and
NGOs to discuss how AI can accelerate progress towards the
Sustainable Development Goals - a series of targets to make the
world a healthier, fairer and more prosperous place by 2030.
Today the UK is also announcing £1 million of UK investment in a
first-of-a kind fund that, working alongside international
partners, will harness the power of AI to help countries and
global organisations prevent crises before they happen. The
Complex Risk Analytics Fund (‘CRAF’d’) will also respond to
emergencies when they occur, and help countries recover onto the
path of sustainable development.
Foreign Secretary said:
The opportunity of AI is immense. It has already been shown to
speed up drug discovery, help develop new treatments for common
diseases, and predict food insecurity — to name only a few uses.
The UK, alongside our allies and partners, is making sure that
the fulfilment of this enormous potential is shared globally.
As AI continues to rapidly evolve, we need a global approach that
seizes the opportunities that AI can bring to solving humanity’s
shared challenges. The UK-hosted AI summit this November will be
key to helping us achieve this.
Julie Delahanty, President of the International Development
Research Centre President said:
IDRC is pleased to announce a new collaboration with FCDO, a key
ally in tackling the most pressing development challenges. The AI
for Development program will build on existing partnerships,
leveraging AI’s capacity to reduce inequalities, address poverty,
improve food systems, confront the challenges of climate change
and make education more inclusive, while also mitigating risks.
This investment is also part of a wider UK commitment to use AI
innovation to address global challenges, including the pursuit of
the Sustainable Development Goals.
On 1 and 2 November the UK will host the first major global
AI Safety Summitat
Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire, building global consensus on the
rapid, international action needed to advance safety at the
cutting edge of AI technology.
Further information
- The UK joins Germany, the United States, the Netherlands, the
European Commission and Finland, as partners in investing in the
Complex Risk Analytics Fund (‘CRAF’d’), working with the United
Nations.
