I recently had the privilege as co-chair to lead the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI) Summit and speak at the Paris Peace Forum about our work to ensure the development of responsible and ethical AI. I left the Summit and Forum even more committed that we must act — collectively, decisively, and with compassion — if we are to ensure an AI-enabled future that benefits all.
The symbolism of the GPAI Summit, which took place on November 11/12, coincided with marking commemorations of the end of WWI. A time when technology and innovation served to kill and destroy rather than help, heal and facilitate—the very opposite of its intention. At the opening of the GPAI Summit, President Macron described our collective responsibility to take up the torch and “be the light in the digital age.” The discussions at both events recognised the urgency of tackling some of the most significant issues facing humanity rather than being passive in technological disruption. Our world is at an inflection point, and we must collectively choose to shape the changes that technology enables. It is up to us to rise to the new technological challenges of our time, enlighten the path before us, or continue to be swept along with the changes.
In this context of acceleration, our work at GPAI is explicitly directed towards ensuring that AI’s ethical development and deployment becomes the benchmark known by all, helping us build our collective action during this time of digital transformation. This exercise is crucial, as it must contribute to promoting digital technology in the service of progress in health, education, and innovation. Technology must be guided to improve the lives of our fellow citizens. From this perspective, we have the responsibility to ‘take up the torch of our processors of past centuries and be the light in this digital age, building trusted technology that respects democratic principles and values.
