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UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
FOR DEVELOPMENT (CSTD), twenty-second session Geneva, 13-17 May 2019
A Conversation with Great Minds
Statement submitted by
Ms. Didi Akinyelure
Moderator
Award-winning Journalist
Monday, 13 May 2019
DISCLAIMER: The views presented here are the contributors' and do not necessarily reflect the views
and position of the United Nations or the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
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UN CSTD
INTRO
Good Morning Ladies & Gentlemen and welcome to the
Conversation with Great Minds. Our panel this morning will
focus around frontier technologies for sustainable
development.
We are seeing disruptive technologies and innovation being
adapted and used all around the world and this has become
part of our lives today.
From the healthcare industry, where artificial intelligence is
assisting doctors in diagnosing diseases, to the financial
sector where its being used to make decisions on credit
applications. Autonomous vehicles in the industrial sector.
Internet companies and retailers using targeted social media
ads that seem to know what you need, automated decision-
making used in the criminal justice system and employers
-using AI to assess candidates in the workplace. The list is
endless.
Jt's great that technology is able to do and achieve things at a
faster speed and capacity than the human mind, but there
can be errors because technology is created by humans. And,
as we human beings are making strides when it comes to
equal opportunities, transparencies and fairness, we must
ensure that these frontier technologies that we have created
remain fair and neutral.
We need to get it right. We know that frontier technologies
can indeed make sustainable development a reality. We-
know that they can be used to help find global solutions to
economig social and environmental challenges. And it's near
impossible to talk about the sustainable development goals
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Question Time
FRONTIER TECHNOLOGY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVEOPMENT
Mention the technological projects you are working on and
the impact it could have on sustainable devel6pment. Start
with Prof. Jurgen (you-again) because you are developing ageneral AI that is c,ipable of imitating human behavior qnd
learning for itself. Briefly talk around Uhat, and the timeline
and what this means for sustainable development.
Prof. Wendy, web science, is about understanding how
machixies and people 'work together and you are also
working on a web obsetvatory.- How does tbis connect with
sustainable development?
Dr. Rubbia, your most recent work iias focused on renewable
energ5r. In order to meet our goal of access to renewableenergy for all by 2030, what tech advancements do we need
to -see? -'
RULE OF CONDUCT
We have talked about the opportunity, let's move over to talk
around the risks, the threats and ethical dimensions.
It's difficult to not point out the risk of AN and automation
taking the place of taumans and jobs. You co-authored tbe
UK's AN strategy review, and you've been vocal about how in
spite of the etbical conversation, we need to continue to build
AN systems and we'd Itke to know why because some mig'ht
argue ttiat it should be the other way round.
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COLLABORATIONS & THE FUTURE
We know that no single country can manage frontiertecbnology on its own. If frontier tecbnoNogies hold the key tosustainable development, then -international cooperation isneeded. But ttnere are differences in policies, agendas,regulations ..., differences Kn culture and morals. How couldwe possibly make this work?
In a lot of developing countries, there is a lack of talent andinsufficient funding for research and development. Globalscientific collaboration is needed to build capacity in manydeveloping c<iuqtries. CERN is a great example ofinternational scientific collaboration. Wbat tips could otherslearn from CERN wben it comes to internationalcollaborations?
What about the United Nations? In your opinion, what roleshould the UN play in building a bridge and driving a globaladiscourse around the possibility of frontier technologies forsustainable development?
FUTURE
It's impossible to predict the future but looking at frontiertech and the work tbat is being done, paint a picture of AI in2030 and the impact that these advancements could have onsustainable development
We know that frontier technologies could help to meet thesustainable development goals in the long term, but whereare the short term opportunities (5-10 years).
Still on opportunities, almost every day in the media we hearabout AI, blockchain technology, machine learnings and IOT,and how they are being used to make life easier. Are there
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COLLABORATIONS & THE FUTURE
We know that no single country can manage fronfiertechnology on its own. If frontier teclinoNogies hold ttie key tosustainable development, then -international cooperation tsneeded. ,But ttnere are d%tfevences in policies, agendas,regulations'.... differences in culture and morals. How couldwe possibly make this work?
In a lot of developing countries, there is a lack of talent andinsufficient funding for research and development. GlobaJscientific collaboration is needed to build capac'4ty in manydeveloping countries. CERN is a great example ofinternational scientific collaboration. What tips could otherslearn from CERN when it comes to internotionalcollaborations?
What about the United Nations? in your opinion, what roleshould the UN play in building a bridge and driving a global'discourse around the possibility of frontier technologies forsustainable development?
FUTURE
It's impossible to predict the future but looking at frontiertech and the work that is being done, paint a picture of AI in2030 and the impact that these advancements could have onsustainable development.
We know that frontier technologies could help to meet thesustainable development goals in the long term, but whereare the short term opportunities (5-10 years).
Still on opportunities, almost every day in the media we hearabout AI, blockchain technology, machine learnings and IOT,and how they are being used to make life easier. Are there