DIGITAL ECONOMY
At the end of their activities, four G20 engagement groups issued a joint statement calling for the development and implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in an ethical, sustainable and inclusive manner. Read an exclusive article for the G20 Brasil website on the importance of the T20 Inclusive Digital Transformation Task Force, written by Representatives Bruno Bioni, Jaqueline Pigatto, Louise Karczeski and Nathan Paschoalini.
10/15/2024 7:00 am – edited 22 minutes ago
The Civil 20 (C20), Labor 20 (L20), Think 20 (T20) and Women 20 (W20) groups recognize the benefits and risks posed by the rapid advance of AI in the face of complex global challenges. reinforce the importance of responsible practices regarding AI.
The ‘São Luís Declaration’ presents a shared vision and strategic recommendations for the future of AI within the G20. The document is named after the city where the third meeting of the G20 Digital Economy Working Group took place in June. São Luís was also the location of the “AI Summit: Bridging Boundaries”, a T20 event organized by Data Privacy Brasil, CEWEB.br, CEBRI and Heinrich Böll Foundation, where the basis for the declaration was developed.
This declaration represents an important milestone in the dynamics of the G20 and in the creation of pluralistic and multisectoral policies related to such an intersection. With the aim of bringing policy recommendations to the G20 Sherpas Track, the engagement groups sought to align their demands and expectations through a truly collective and collaborative process built over six months.
The consensus statement reached between groups with different interests strengthens the legitimacy of the document, which was presented to the Digital Economy Working Group at the last meeting in Maceió, in the hope that its recommendations will inform the leaders’ final statement and the activities at the Congress will influence. the G20 summit in November.
The São Luís Declaration recognizes the need to enhance international cooperation in this area and also refers to AI governance initiatives developed in global fora such as the G20, G7 and the United Nations (UN).
“We highlight this moment as a global governance opportunity for international cooperation initiatives aimed at reducing the digital divide between developed and developing countries (…), for aligning our efforts with global initiatives to promote ethical and responsible AI governance , and to encourage G20 members to promote and strengthen interoperability between AI governance frameworks.”
Regarding the UN agenda, the document mainly engages in dialogue with the work of the High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence and with the Global Digital Pact (GDC). The GDC and the final report of the AI Advisory Body were published in September 2024 and express the need to improve global monitoring of AI risks and the participation of developing countries in their governance. The documents propose the creation of a Scientific Panel on this topic, a proposal endorsed in the Declaration, which underlines the importance of establishing this panel in a country in the Global South.
Key points of the declaration include decent work, meaningful inclusion, and climate and social justice, taking into account the specificities of different jurisdictions and hyper-vulnerable groups through an intersectional approach. The statement also endorses the combination of risk-based and rights-based approaches; and calls on developers and implementers of AI models to publicly report on the capabilities and limitations of advanced AI models and systems.
“(…) improving transparency and accountability, promoting justice and trust through a rights-based approach (…) Assessments of threats to human rights and the consequences of risky AI applications should be mandatory are reported, as well as providing access to data to qualified researchers and external audits, so that such assessments are subject to broader public scrutiny.”
The recommendations were based on the data justice approach, which aims to actively combat discrimination and recognize power asymmetries at the global level, thus guiding the development of AI governance mechanisms that fairly distribute its benefits and risks. Furthermore, the statement indicates that the intersectional approach is the theoretical and methodological direction for dealing with the development and implementation of AI systems, ensuring the protection of vulnerable groups, especially girls and women, who are increasingly victims of gender-based violence, facilitated by technologies.
The groups also recognize the need for a common position on data management and representative datasets, emphasizing the need to implement open data policies that promote cultural and linguistic diversity and enable today’s workforce to adapt to these transformations without compromising the value of their work, by increasing investment in work-integrated education initiatives such as training programs.
“We recommend including public data generated by citizens to ensure that policy guidelines are informed by and connected to the most local levels of communities, which are often invisible to the state. This can even be done through a ‘data spaces’ approach within a data economy strategy that is aligned with society’s demands and promotes interoperability. We recognize that this policy should encourage a fair exchange of data, with appropriate mechanisms for sharing benefits, protecting privacy and ensuring data security in a legal, transparent and responsible manner, while also preventing the interception of private interests .”
The declaration makes an important connection between global governance and local demands, and in particular brings with it an agenda from the Global South. The four engagement groups responsible for the recommendations – C20, L20, T20 and W20 – expect that G20 government representatives will consider them, especially in view of the upcoming South African presidency, which will provide a new opportunity for Global South to contribute to the AI agenda.
The full text of the joint statement is available and can be accessed via the link.
Bruno Bioni – Founder and Executive Director of Data Privacy Brasil and Co-Chair of the T20 Inclusive Digital Transformation Task Force
Jaqueline Pigatto – Coordinator at Data Privacy Brasil and Deputy Co-Chair of the T20 Inclusive Digital Transformation Task Force
Louise Karczeski – Researcher at Data Privacy Brasil and member of the Secretariat of the T20 Inclusive Digital Transformation Task Force
Nathan Paschoalini – Researcher at Data Privacy Brasil and member of the Secretariat of the T20 Inclusive Digital Transformation Task Force
Translated by PGET-UFSC
