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