Hamad Bin Khalifa University, a member of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, confirmed that the Global Alliance for Artificial Intelligence Ethics aims to transform the global discourse on the ethics of artificial intelligence from its current context, restricted to a single culture, to a comprehensive and multipolar model.
The university explained, in a statement today, that the alliance, which was launched in the Swiss city of Geneva on the sidelines of the first edition of the United Nations Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance, began its work by holding a high-level strategic roundtable with the support of the United Nations Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies.
She explained that the alliance seeks to advance the ancient ethical traditions of the countries of the Global South, so that their opinions become an effective voice in directing and shaping technology governance globally, pointing out that the alliance meets the urgent need to transform the global discourse on the ethics of artificial intelligence from a model that focuses on prevention and prohibition, to a model that supports human-centered innovation.
The university indicated, in the statement, that the alliance was established with the aim of striking an objective balance in the face of narrow technological and commercial solutions, through frameworks based on values that place human dignity and social and cultural well-being as basic requirements in the early stages of engineering artificial intelligence systems.
She noted that the coalition held a high-level strategic roundtable meeting entitled “Cognitive Justice in the Digital Age: Formulating a Multipolar Global Discourse on Artificial Intelligence by Strengthening Cooperation between North and South Countries,” with the aim of translating its vision into immediate practical steps.
She explained that the meeting attracted members of the Alliance’s Advisory Board and senior experts nominated by the United Nations Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies, with the aim of drawing a long-term road map that paves the way for partnerships between the Alliance and international institutions concerned with diversifying the global discourse on the ethics of artificial intelligence.
In this context, Dr. Ahmed Mujahid Omar Hasna, President of Hamad Bin Khalifa University, said: “We believe that technological progress only gains its true value and meaning when it is guided by solid, human-centered values.”
He added that this alliance “seeks to build a global framework in which ethics becomes a fundamental driver for responsible and sustainable innovation in the field of artificial intelligence, going beyond merely achieving what is technologically possible to providing what is truly useful and beneficial to all of humanity, by creating an interactive space that allows countries of the world to formulate the ethics of artificial intelligence in a participatory manner.”
For her part, Her Excellency Dr. Hind Abdulrahman Al-Muftah, Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Office in Geneva, said: “The launch of the alliance in conjunction with this historic United Nations dialogue provides an ideal platform to highlight the ability of the State of Qatar to pioneer technological progress in a strategic manner based on values.
Her Excellency added that this achievement “represents an important step towards transforming theoretical ethical principles into practical frameworks that gain international recognition.”
In turn, Dr. Muhammad Ghali, Director of the Center for Studies of Islamic Legislation and Ethics at Hamad Bin Khalifa University and Co-Chair of the Global AI Ethics Alliance, said: “The global discourse of AI ethics has long been an echo centered around Western visions, which has caused the marginalization of non-Western civilizations in our contemporary digital world.”
He added, “With the launch of the Global Alliance for Artificial Intelligence Ethics, we are establishing a true pluralistic voice, as our initiatives will work to provide the culturally authentic empirical data necessary to achieve balance and build more equitable global models.”
It is worth noting that the mission of the Global Alliance for Artificial Intelligence Ethics is based on the implementation of a number of initiatives, the most prominent of which are the Global Observatory for Artificial Intelligence Ethics and the World Heritage and Artificial Intelligence Project.