“Digitalization offered many of us a lifeline during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, some digital divides were highlighted, such as the unequal access to connectivity; the unequal access to reliable information and knowledge; and the unequal capacities and competencies to create value through digital technology.”

Tawfik Jelassi, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information

Startups were asked for their solutions on how to harness AI to tackle challenges related to biodiversity, gender equality and language barriers. Selected finalists reflect UNESCO’s commitment to ensuring access to information and harnessing new technologies to improve people's lives and tackle sustainable development challenges.

At its 40th session in November 2019, UNESCO’s General Conference decided to develop an international standard-setting instrument on the ethics of AI, in the form of a recommendation. Since then, UNESCO has led a multidisciplinary, multicultural and pluralist effort to produce a preliminary report and a first draft of the Recommendation, shared with Member States in September 2020 for their comments. These written comments were taken into consideration by the Director-General when preparing her final report on the Recommendation, containing the draft of the Recommendation on the Ethics of AI.

UNESCO proposes the development of a comprehensive global standard-setting instrument to provide AI with a strong ethical basis, that will not only protect but also promote human rights and human dignity. If adopted, it will be an ethical guiding compass and a global normative bedrock allowing to build a strong respect for the rule of law in the digital world.

Moral decisions are made by everyone daily. When a driver chooses to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting a jaywalker, they are making the moral decision to shift risk from the pedestrian to the people in the car. How should the AI respond?

The use of AI in culture raises interesting ethical reflections.

Type “greatest leaders of all time” in your favourite search engine and you will probably see a list of the world’s prominent male personalities. How many women do you count?

Listen about the man who is running the show and running the Jaugurnaut that is Google's cloud computing

Quantum computing is still in its early stages. And the Chinese are already years ahead.

A group of engineering students of a city-based private university have developed a "driverless autonomous" electric four-wheeler using Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the intention of reducing accidents and deaths caused by human errors. This vehicle has been developed by the students of mechanical engineering and electronics and telecommunications branches of the MIT World Peace University.