Action Line C10: Ethical dimensions of the Information Society

New technologies are not solely emerging, but also increasingly converging across fields, leading to new questions about ethical considerations. In addressing the questions raised by this rapid development and the convergence of technologies to achieve the SDGs 3, 5 10 and 13, UNESCO has emerged as a key focal point within this dynamic landscape due to its global reach and commitment to navigating the intricacies of AI governance, placing itself at the heart of the global ethics debate.

UNESCO is working towards an ethical development and deployment of AI, with the support of Member States and through partnerships with private sector companies. Most notably, it adopted the Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (AI) during the UNESCO General Conference in November 2021, which functioned as the first global normative instrument in this field, constituting an ambitious and wide-ranging new template for the ethical development and deployment of AI. 

To consolidate this, over 70 Member States launched the Group of Friends of the Implementation of the Recommendation on the Ethics of AI as an informal and open-ended network. Further steps have also been taken at the regional and national level, such as the establishment of institutional infrastructures, including national steering committees on the ethics of AI, to oversee the piloting of the capacity-building tools under development. A comprehensive programme to support the implementation of the Recommendation, which includes the elaboration of capacity-building tools and methodologies, the organization of a Global Forum on the Ethics of AI, and the establishment of the Global Observatory of AI Ethics, has also been implemented. 

Lastly, UNESCO is also working on the ethics of neurotechnology and the Internet of Things, with the aim of updating the application of human rights frameworks and preventing harm in the digital or technology spaces.