UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI
In plain wordsA worldwide set of ethical principles for AI that all of UNESCO's member countries agreed in 2021, covering human rights, fairness, privacy, the environment, gender equality and education.
A non-binding standard-setting instrument adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in November 2021 and described as the first global normative framework on AI ethics. It rests on four core values — human rights and human dignity; peaceful, just and interconnected societies; diversity and inclusiveness; and flourishing environments and ecosystems — and ten principles, among them proportionality and do no harm, safety and security, privacy, human oversighthuman oversight, n.: Keeping people able to watch, understand, question and, if necessary, stop or overrule an AI system, rather than letting it act unchecked. and determination, transparency and explainabilityexplainability, n.: How well the reasons behind an AI system's outputs can be put into terms that people can understand, check and, if needed, challenge., fairness and non-discrimination, and sustainability. Eleven policy areas translate these into action on data, gender, education, culture, labor, health and the environment. Implementation tools include a Readiness Assessment Methodology for countries and an Ethical Impact Assessment for AI systems.
The ministry used UNESCO's readiness assessment to benchmark its AI policy against the Recommendation on the Ethics of AI.
Origin
Drafted from 2020 by an ad hoc expert group of 24 specialists, negotiated by member states, and adopted on 23 November 2021 at the 41st session of UNESCO's General Conference by its then 193 member states.
Usage note
As a recommendation it creates no binding obligations; member states are invited to report on implementation. Not to be confused with UNESCO's later guidance on generative AI in education and research (2023).
Related
- AI ethicsAI ethics, n.: The study of what is right and wrong in how AI is built and used: who it may harm, who is responsible when it fails, and which values it should respect.
- OECD AI PrinciplesOECD AI Principles, prop. n.: Guidelines for trustworthy AI that governments agreed through the OECD in 2019, the first such standard agreed between governments; many later laws and agreements borrowed from them.
- human oversighthuman oversight, n.: Keeping people able to watch, understand, question and, if necessary, stop or overrule an AI system, rather than letting it act unchecked.
- AI governanceAI governance, n.: The rules, institutions and habits that shape how AI is built and used — from laws and treaties to technical standards and a company's own review processes.
- Framework Convention on Artificial IntelligenceFramework Convention on Artificial Intelligence, prop. n.: The first binding international treaty on AI, drawn up by the Council of Europe, in which countries promise that AI used by governments and businesses will respect human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
- algorithmic fairnessalgorithmic fairness, n.: The effort to make automated decisions fair: to say in numbers what fair treatment means, measure whether a system achieves it, and correct the system if it does not.
Sources
- UNESCO (2021). Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. Adopted 23 November 2021 by the General Conference at its 41st session.
Mentioned in
AI ethicsAI ethics, n.: The study of what is right and wrong in how AI is built and used: who it may harm, who is responsible when it fails, and which values it should respect., Framework Convention on Artificial IntelligenceFramework Convention on Artificial Intelligence, prop. n.: The first binding international treaty on AI, drawn up by the Council of Europe, in which countries promise that AI used by governments and businesses will respect human rights, democracy and the rule of law., human oversighthuman oversight, n.: Keeping people able to watch, understand, question and, if necessary, stop or overrule an AI system, rather than letting it act unchecked., OECD AI PrinciplesOECD AI Principles, prop. n.: Guidelines for trustworthy AI that governments agreed through the OECD in 2019, the first such standard agreed between governments; many later laws and agreements borrowed from them.