UK's Cleverly to chair AI session at UN Security Council

British Foreign Secretary will chair the council's first session on the emerging technology

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly. PA

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly will call for international co-operation on artificial intelligence at a UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday.

The rapid development of AI raises fears about its potential, but also hope of the possibilities it could offer.

Regulation of the emerging technology has been a recurring issue in recent months among politicians and policymakers around the world.

A UN Security Council session on the technology – the first the organisation has held – will be chaired in New York by the UK.

The briefing is expected to discuss the potential implications of AI on global peace and security, with discussions also set to focus on how safe and responsible use of the technology can be achieved.

Mr Cleverly is expected to call for the “widest coalition of international actors” to respond to AI.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has sought to position the UK as a world leader on the technology, with London set to host the first major summit on the issue this year.

Is AI the future of art? - in pictures

Argentine artist Sofia Crespo holds one of her works as she poses for a photo at the Estrela garden in Lisbon on June 8, 2022. AFP

Sofia Crespo creates her works with the help of artificial intelligence. AFP

She is part of the 'generative art' movement, where humans create rules for computers which then use algorithms to generate new forms, ideas and patterns. AFP

Sofia Crespo holds one of her works as she poses for a photo. AFP

Undated handout photo issued by Aidan Meller of a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, painted by an ultra-realistic humanoid robot artist. The painting, titled 'Algorithm Queen', was painted by Ai-Da robot, an AI robot built in 2019 that creates drawings, paintings and sculptures.

The Ai-Da robot, the world's first ultra-realistic humanoid robot, on view for a show organised by the Concilio Europeo dell'Arte (Council of Europe) at the 59th International Art Exhibition in Venice, Italy, on April 20, 2022. EPA

Ai-Da paints an image during a photocall in central London. AFP

“No country will be untouched by AI, so we must involve and engage the widest coalition of international actors from all sectors,” Mr Cleverly is expected to say.

“The UK is home to many of the world’s trail-blazing AI developers and foremost AI safety researchers.

“So this autumn the UK plans to bring world leaders together for the first major global summit on AI safety.

“Our shared goal will be to consider the risks of AI and decide how they can be reduced through co-ordinated action.

“Momentous opportunities on a scale that we can barely imagine lie before us.

“We must seize these opportunities and grasp the challenges of AI – including those for international peace and security – decisively, optimistically and from a position of global unity on essential principles.”

British Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary Chloe Smith praised the briefing session as an “important milestone”.