At UN, developing nations call for bigger say in shaping AI future

Developing nations are demanding a greater role in shaping the rules governing artificial intelligence, warning that a technology poised to transform economies could instead deepen global inequalities if its development and regulation remain concentrated in wealthy countries.



The debate at last week's UN festival of diplomacy in New York highlighted mounting concern among leaders from Africa, Asia and Latin America around the increasingly powerful technology after several safety breaches, and as top researchers have warned it could destroy humanity.



"Developing countries cannot be reduced to the role of mere users of technologies designed elsewhere, nor should be the mere recipients of standards and norms that they did not adequately participate in shaping," said Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.