Ensuring safe, effective and fair deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) platforms requires the United States, its Allies and Partners, and industry to develop consistent guidelines, leaders said at a conference on international AI policy.

“We must craft frameworks that maximize innovation while ensuring the trustworthy, secure and ethical use of AI. This balance is the cornerstone of effective AI governance,” Shigeo Yamada, Japanese ambassador on AI governance, said at the December 2024 conference, hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. “How we will ensure AI is trustworthy and beneficial for everyone remains an open question.”

Speakers noted that nations are working together to develop guardrails on AI’s use. In February 2023, the U.S. State Department published the Political Declaration on Responsible Military Use of Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy, endorsed by 58 countries as of November 2024. In May 2023, leaders from the Group of Seven (G7) nations pledged to promote international discussions to achieve the “development of tools for trustworthy AI through multi-stakeholder international organizations and encourage the development and adoption of international technical standards,” according to a White House statement. Through the International AI Safety Institute Network, more than 30 nations are tapping technical expertise to build a framework for safe, secure and trustworthy AI innovation.

Canada, which will hold the G7 presidency in 2025, will seek to advance cooperation on rapidly evolving technologies while addressing access divides in developing nations, said Sarah Cohen, deputy head of mission, Canadian embassy.

“While much remains to be done in the areas of safety and human decision making, we see an opportunity to cooperate on seizing the potential of this technology to drive economic growth and sustainable development in our economies and around the world amid growing geopolitical competition, especially with the [People’s Republic of China,]” Cohen said. “We must strike a balance between protecting our technological advances and enhancing the competitiveness of our AI sectors on the one hand and addressing AI divides with the global majority on the other. This is crucial for protecting our economic and national security interests, and also for countering authoritarianism in the digital sphere.”

Countries also must work together to build the energy infrastructure required for AI capabilities in ways that are environmentally sustainable, said Laurent Bili, ambassador of France to the U.S.

“We need to ensure that AI benefits all of humanity rather than a select few. On the other hand, we must also recognize and mitigate the risk that accompanies this shift, as we all know AI has a potential to facilitate cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns and help produce biological and chemical weapons,” he said. “We need to bring more countries and stakeholders around the table.”

While AI is a global phenomenon, fewer than 10 countries are considered leading participants in international discussions, according to the United Nations. “More than 100 countries are completely excluded from the conversation,” he said.

Laurent noted that France will host an AI action summit in Paris in February 2025 that will include some 1,000 representatives from 100 nations.

“We need to build an international consensus on AI governance because the biggest risk will be to have different systems of regional governance, which will result in fragmentation and desensitize the use of AI,” he said.

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