Eminent technology experts hailing from India have been named to a new global advisory body announced by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to support the international community’s efforts to govern artificial intelligence.

The High-Level Multistakeholder Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence, announced by the UN Chief here on October 26, brings together experts from the government, the private sector, the research community, civil society, and academia, and is focused on building a global scientific consensus on risks and challenges, helping harness AI for the Sustainable Development Goals, and strengthening international cooperation on AI governance, a statement said.

Among the members of the advisory body are the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology Amandeep Singh Gill; co-founder of iSPIRT Foundation, a non-profit technology think tank that has conceptualised India Stack, Health Stack, and other digital public goods Sharad Sharma and Lead Researcher at Hugging Face, India Nazneen Rajani.

Addressing reporters here, Mr. Guterres said “In our challenging times, AI could power extraordinary progress for humanity.

“From predicting and addressing crises to rolling out public health services and education services, AI could scale up and amplify the work of governments, civil society and the United Nations across the board,” he said.

Mr. Guterres noted that for developing economies, AI offers the possibility of leapfrogging outdated technologies and bringing services directly to people where needs are bigger and for the people who need them most.

Before he was appointed the Secretary General’s Envoy on Technology, Mr. Gill was the CEO of the International Digital Health and Artificial Intelligence Research Collaborative (I-DAIR) project, based at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva.

Previously, he was the Executive Director and Co-Lead of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation (2018-2019).

Mr. Gill was India’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva (2016-2018).

Mr. Sharma also co-founded Teltier Technologies, a wireless infrastructure startup now part of CISCO. An active angel investor with over two dozen investments, he was instrumental in the success of India’s first IP-focused fund, the India Innovation Fund. He is a member of the National Startup Advisory Council, Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) Financial and Regulatory Technology Committee and chairs the International Financial Services Centres Authority’s (IFSCA) Expert Committee on Asset Tokenization and the Taskforce on Digital Public Infrastructure in the ThinkTank20 (T20) group of G20.

Ms. Rajani is the Research Lead at Hugging Face, specialising in AI Safety and Alignment, leveraging Reinforcement Learning with Human Feedback (RLHF). She is recognised as an expert and thought leader in Large Language Models (LLMs) robustness and evaluation. Before her tenure at HuggingFace, Ms. Nazneen successfully led a team of esteemed researchers at Salesforce Research, dedicated to developing robust natural language generation systems built upon LLMs, according to her profile.

Ms. Rajani earned her Doctorate in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin, where her research focused on Natural Language Processing (NLP) and the interpretability of Machine Learning models.

She has over 40 publications in premier conferences and her research has garnered significant attention from prominent media outlets.

Other members of the advisory body include President of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, U.S. Vilas Dhar; President and Founder of Eurasia Group Ian Bremmer; Special Advisor to the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Federal Government of Brazil Estela Aranha; Secretary of State for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence of Spain Carme Artigas; Chief Innovation Officer and Deputy Director General at Clalit Health Services Israel Ran Balicer; Aerospace Coordinator of the German Federal Government Anna Christmann; Chief Responsible AI Officer at Microsoft Natasha Crampton and Associate Professor at the University of Tokyo Arisa Ema.

Mr. Guterres said the transformative potential of AI for good is difficult even to grasp. “And we are in urgent need of this enabler and accelerator,” he said.

He noted that many countries are already reeling from the impact of the climate crisis. The 2030 Agenda – our global blueprint for peace and prosperity on a healthy planet – is in deep trouble.

“AI could help to turn that around. It could supercharge climate action and efforts to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030,” he said adding that all this depends on AI technologies being harnessed responsibly, and made accessible to all – including the developing countries that need them most.

He stressed that as things stand, AI expertise is concentrated in a handful of companies and countries, and this could deepen global inequalities and turn digital divides into chasms.

“The potential harms of AI extend to serious concerns over misinformation and disinformation; the entrenching of bias and discrimination; surveillance and invasion of privacy; fraud, and other violations of human rights,” Mr. Guterres said.

He said without entering into a host of doomsday scenarios, it is already clear that the malicious use of AI could undermine trust in institutions, weaken social cohesion, and threaten democracy itself.

“For all these reasons, I have called for a global, multidisciplinary, multistakeholder conversation on the governance of AI so that its benefits to humanity – all of humanity – are maximized, and the risks contained are diminished,” he said adding that the new Advisory Body is the starting point for it.

The UN statement added that the formation of the AI Advisory Body marks a significant step in the United Nations’ efforts to address issues in the international governance of artificial intelligence.

The new initiative will foster a globally inclusive approach, drawing on the UN’s unique convening power as a universal and inclusive forum on critical challenges, it said.

The Body will help bridge other existing and emerging initiatives on AI governance, and issue preliminary recommendations by end-2023, with final recommendations by summer 2024, ahead of the Summit of the Future.

Trucks carrying aid wait to exit, on the Palestinian side of the border with Egypt, as the conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas continues, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on October 21, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The border crossing between Egypt and Gaza opened on October 21 to let desperately needed aid flow to Palestinians for the first time since Israel sealed off the territory following Hamas’ bloody rampage two weeks ago.

Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians, half of whom have fled their homes, are rationing food and drinking filthy water. Hospitals say they are running low on medical supplies and fuel for emergency generators amid a territory-wide power blackout. Israel has launched waves of airstrikes across Gaza that have failed to stem ongoing Palestinian rocket fire into Israel.

The opening came after more than a week of high-level diplomacy by various mediators, including visits to the region by U.S. President Joe Biden and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Israel had insisted that nothing would enter Gaza until some 200 people captured by Hamas were freed and the Palestinian side of the crossing had been shut down by Israeli airstrikes.

More than 200 trucks carrying roughly 3,000 tonnes of aid had been positioned near the crossing for days. But Egypt’s state-owned Al-Qahera news, which is close to security agencies, said just 20 trucks had crossed into Gaza on October 21. Hundreds of foreign passport holders also waited to cross from Gaza to Egypt to escape the conflict.

The Hamas-run government in Gaza said the limited convoy “will not be able to change the humanitarian catastrophe that Gaza is currently enduring,” calling for a secure corridor operating around the clock.

The opening came hours after Hamas released an American woman and her teenage daughter, the first captives to be freed after the militant group’s October 7 incursion into Israel. It was not immediately clear if there was any connection between the two.

Hamas released Judith Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter, Natalie, on Friday for what it said were humanitarian reasons in an agreement with Qatar, a Persian Gulf nation that has often served as a Mideast mediator.

“The two had been on a trip from their home in suburban Chicago to Israel to celebrate Jewish holidays,” the family said. They were in the kibbutz of Nahal Oz, near Gaza, when Hamas and other militants stormed into southern Israeli towns, killing hundreds and abducting 203 others.

Mr. Biden spoke with the two freed hostages and their relatives. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which transported the freed Americans to Israel, said their release was “a sliver of hope.”

Hamas said in a statement that it was working with mediators “to close the case” of hostages if security circumstances permit. The group said it is committed to mediation efforts by Egypt, Qatar and others.

There are growing expectations of a ground offensive that Israel says would be aimed at rooting out Hamas, an Islamic militant group that has ruled Gaza for 16 years. Israel said on Friday it does not plan to take long-term control over the small but densely-populated Palestinian territory.

Israel has also traded fire along its northern border with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group, raising concerns about a second front opening up. The Israeli military said on Saturday it struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in response to recent rocket launches and attacks with anti-tank missiles.

Israel issued a travel warning on Saturday, ordering its citizens to leave Egypt and Jordan — which made peace with it decades ago — and to avoid travel to a number of Arab and Muslim countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain, which forged diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020. Protests against Israel’s actions in Gaza have erupted across the region.

A potential Israeli ground assault is likely to lead to a dramatic escalation in casualties on both sides in urban fighting. More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed in the war — mostly civilians slain during the Hamas incursion. Palestinian militants have continued to launch unrelenting rocket attacks into Israel — more than 6,900 projectiles since October 7, according to Israel.

More than 4,100 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry run by Hamas. That includes a disputed number of people who died in a hospital explosion earlier this week.

Speaking on Friday about Israel’s long-term plans for Gaza, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant laid out a three-stage plan that seemed to suggest Israel did not intend to reoccupy the territory it left in 2005.

First, Israeli airstrikes and “maneuvering” — a presumed reference to a ground attack — would aim to root out Hamas. Next will come a lower intensity fight to defeat remaining pockets of resistance. And, finally, a new “security regime” will be created in Gaza along with “the removal of Israel’s responsibility for life in the Gaza Strip,” Mr. Gallant said.

Mr. Gallant did not say who Israel expected to run Gaza if Hamas is toppled or what the new security regime would entail.

Israel occupied Gaza from 1967 until 2005, when it pulled up settlements and withdrew soldiers. Two years later, Hamas took over. Some Israelis blame the withdrawal from Gaza for the five wars and countless smaller exchanges of fire since then.

Over a million people have been displaced in Gaza. Many heeded Israel’s orders to evacuate from north to south within the sealed-off enclave on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. But Israel has continued to bomb areas in southern Gaza where Palestinians had been told to seek safety, and some appear to be going back to the north because of bombings and difficult living conditions in the south.

“Generators in Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest, were operating at the lowest setting to conserve fuel while providing power to vital departments such as intensive care, hospital director Mohammed Abu Selmia said. Others worked in darkness. The lack of medical supplies and water make it difficult to treat the mass of victims from the Israeli strikes,” he said.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it had received a threat from the Israeli military to bomb Al-Quds Hospital. It said Israel has demanded the immediate evacuation of the Gaza City hospital, which has more than 400 patients and thousands of displaced civilians who sought refuge on its grounds.

It was not clear if there was an agreement for generator fuel to be brought in through Rafah.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar at a global event on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York.
| Photo Credit: PTI

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar held a series of bilateral meetings with his global counterparts on the sidelines of the high-level United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in New York, exchanging views on reforming multilateralism and cooperation in G20.

He held separate bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Mexico, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Armenia on September 24. Jaishankar said it was a “real pleasure” to meet with Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alicia Bárcena of Mexico.

“Discussed taking forward our Privileged Partnership focussing on business, science & technology, education, economy and traditional medicine. Also exchanged views on reforming multilateralism and our work together in G20,” he said in a post on X.

The External Affairs Minister also met his counterpart from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Elmedin Konakovic and discussed growing bilateral ties with a focus on trade and economy.

Terming his meeting with Konakovic on the sidelines of the UNGA session as “good”, Jaishankar said, “Discussed growing our bilateral ties with (a) focus on trade and economy.” Jaishankar also met with his counterpart from Armenia, Ararat Mirzoyan.

“Appreciate his sharing assessment of the current situation in the Caucasus. Affirmed our strong bilateral relationship,” he posted on X.

Jaishankar is scheduled to meet UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the President of the 78th UN General Assembly session, Dennis Francis, on Monday.

On Saturday, Jaishankar called on Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and discussed the progress of the bilateral development partnership and the situation in Myanmar. The two leaders met on the margins of the high-level UN General Assembly session in New York.

“Pleased to call on Prime Minister Hun Manet of Cambodia. Conveyed the warm greetings of PM @narendramodi. Discussed the progress of our development partnership,” Jaishankar posted on X.

“Noted as well our expanding defence and cultural cooperation. Exchanged views on Myanmar,” he added. Jaishankar also held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Egypt, Guinea Bissau, Cyprus and Uganda on Saturday.

He began a nine-day visit to the U.S. on Friday, primarily to attend the annual session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York and to host a special event on Global South. He would also participate in various plurilateral and bilateral meetings in New York.

He is scheduled to address the General Debate from the UN General Assembly hall on Tuesday.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar at a global event on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York.
| Photo Credit: PTI

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar held a series of bilateral meetings with his global counterparts on the sidelines of the high-level United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in New York, exchanging views on reforming multilateralism and cooperation in G20.

He held separate bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Mexico, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Armenia on September 24. Jaishankar said it was a “real pleasure” to meet with Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alicia Bárcena of Mexico.

“Discussed taking forward our Privileged Partnership focussing on business, science & technology, education, economy and traditional medicine. Also exchanged views on reforming multilateralism and our work together in G20,” he said in a post on X.

The External Affairs Minister also met his counterpart from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Elmedin Konakovic and discussed growing bilateral ties with a focus on trade and economy.

Terming his meeting with Konakovic on the sidelines of the UNGA session as “good”, Jaishankar said, “Discussed growing our bilateral ties with (a) focus on trade and economy.” Jaishankar also met with his counterpart from Armenia, Ararat Mirzoyan.

“Appreciate his sharing assessment of the current situation in the Caucasus. Affirmed our strong bilateral relationship,” he posted on X.

Jaishankar is scheduled to meet UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the President of the 78th UN General Assembly session, Dennis Francis, on Monday.

On Saturday, Jaishankar called on Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and discussed the progress of the bilateral development partnership and the situation in Myanmar. The two leaders met on the margins of the high-level UN General Assembly session in New York.

“Pleased to call on Prime Minister Hun Manet of Cambodia. Conveyed the warm greetings of PM @narendramodi. Discussed the progress of our development partnership,” Jaishankar posted on X.

“Noted as well our expanding defence and cultural cooperation. Exchanged views on Myanmar,” he added. Jaishankar also held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Egypt, Guinea Bissau, Cyprus and Uganda on Saturday.

He began a nine-day visit to the U.S. on Friday, primarily to attend the annual session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York and to host a special event on Global South. He would also participate in various plurilateral and bilateral meetings in New York.

He is scheduled to address the General Debate from the UN General Assembly hall on Tuesday.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
| Photo Credit: AP

“More than 30 Atlantic countries on four continents committed, on September 18, to bolster coordination on economic development, environmental protection, maritime issues and more,” the White House said.

The adoption of the Declaration on Atlantic Cooperation was completed on Monday evening at a meeting hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken ahead of the start of the annual UN General Assembly meeting.

“The Atlantic connects and sustains us like never before,” Mr. Blinken told the gathering. He noted that the Atlantic hosts the largest amount of international shipping and, through undersea cables, is a thoroughfare for data traffic than any other ocean.

However, he said the Atlantic is also threatened by climate change, which has brought stronger and more devastating storms to vulnerable coastal communities and illegal fishing. “It’s the heating and cooling of the Atlantic that is driving global climate and weather patterns,” he said.

The declaration includes a commitment to an open Atlantic region free from interference, coercion or aggressive action. The signatories also agreed to uphold sovereign equality, territorial integrity and political independence of states, and recognises the role that each of the nations play in the Atlantic.

The effort to tighten coordination between coastal Atlantic countries across Africa, Europe, North America and South America was launched on the sidelines of last year’s General Assembly with the creation of the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation, a forum conceived by the Biden administration.

Nations that endorsed Monday’s declaration are: Angola, Argentina, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Canada, Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Iceland, Ireland, Liberia, Mauritania, Morocco, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Portugal, the Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Spain, Togo, the United Kingdom, the United States and Uruguay.

The White House pitched the forum as a way to improve cooperation between northern and southern Atlantic countries on key issues and come to agreement on a set of principles for the Atlantic region.

The World Bank estimates that Atlantic Ocean commerce contributes $1.5 trillion annually to the global economy and it expects that figure to double by 2030. Sustainable ocean economy sectors are estimated to generate almost 50 million jobs in Africa and to contribute $21 billion to the Latin American economy. But challenges include illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing; natural disasters; and illicit trafficking.

The declaration comes as thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of New York as world leaders gather in New York for the General Assembly. The activists are pushing world leaders to act with greater haste to curb climate change.

Many of the leaders of countries that cause the most heat-trapping carbon pollution will not be in attendance for this year’s General Assembly. And some who are in attendance, including President Joe Biden, aren’t planning to attend a climate-focused summit on Wednesday organised by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.