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The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit in Paris appears to have been a fairly frosty affair, as the U.S. and UK refused to sign a multinational agreement.
This declaration was signed by a number of other countries including France, China and India with the statement pledging an ‘open,’ ‘inclusive,’ and ‘ethical’ approach to development.
This comes at a time when governance and approaches to AI are not yet set in place, with it becoming an increasingly important global policy issue. With it being a relatively new topic, it appears not everyone has the same vision.
Within the statement, it states there are participants from over 100 countries who are now aligned on a number of priorities. It details the Summit as having highlighted the importance of reinforcing the diversity of the AI ecosystem.
“It has laid an open, multi-stakeholder and inclusive approach that will enable AI to be human rights-based, human-centric, ethical, safe, secure and trustworthy while also stressing the need and urgency to narrow the inequalities and assist developing countries in artificial intelligence capacity-building so they can build AI capacities,” the agreement reads.
What happened at the Paris AI Summit held in February?
The event also marked Vice President J.D. Vance’s first foreign speech and it was within this that he told world leaders that too much regulation in AI could “kill a transformative industry just as it’s taking off.”
This statement was in contrast to the President of France Emmanuel Macron who pushed for regulation. At the summit, he said: “We need these rules for AI to move forward.”
While regulation remains a contentious topic, so does the race for dominance within the industry – a position that many suggest the United States is currently taking up.
In his speech, Vance said: “This Administration will ensure that American AI technology continues to be the gold standard worldwide,” before suggesting the country is the partner of choice for other countries.
Shortly after, he stated: “The United States of America is the leader in AI and our Administration plans to keep it that way.”
The summit, which took place on Monday and Tuesday (10-11 February) and was co-hosted by France and India in Paris. The next event will be held in India.
Featured Image: Via Elysee France (official website of the President of France, ‘Paris’ actions for Artificial Intelligence’ news release
