Recommendations on Ethics Artificial intelligencemade by UNESCO and adopted by the organization’s 193 member states in November 2021, promoting changes to the business models of companies developing these technologies.

Gabriela Ramos, deputy director general of UNESCO’s Human and Social Sciences, said at a forum organized by Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT), that technological developments involving artificial intelligence (AI) are highly concentrated in several countries and cultures.

The United States and China are the countries where private investment in Artificial Intelligence is higher during 2020, according to the 2021 Artificial Intelligence Index Report from Oxford University.

While the United States and China will invest $25 billion and $10 billion in AI by 2020, respectively, economic powers such as the UK, Canada, Germany, France, and Japan have even less than $5 billion in private investment in this technology.

This concentration prevents many countries from promoting the development of their own AI technology, according to Ramos, who also believes that this concentration results in cognitive bias, which in turn leads to situations of discrimination and exclusion.

Mexico welcomes recommendations

Ana Maria Cettowho is part of the Deputy Minister for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights, said that Mexico was one of the first countries to adopt the recommendations made by UNESCO.

He assured that the Mexican government is promoting a global ethical policy that minimizes the impact of Artificial Intelligence and that ensures inclusion, innovation and social justice, whereby the country during the development of recommendations serves as a bridge between producing and consuming countries of this technology .

“Mexico welcomes the recommendation,” said Cetto. The country is part of a group of countries that are early adopters of this recommendation, which as a tool of action considers the involvement of AI experts for the formation of an advisory board; as well as an assessment of the country’s readiness to adopt this technology.

Mexico is in 60th place out of 160 countries in the Government AI Readiness Index 2021 from the University of Oxford. The country is one of the 15 founders of the Global Alliance on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), although it falls behind countries in the region such as Brazil, Chile and Argentina.

IFT changes agenda

Another Mexican State Institution interested in participating in the implementation of UNESCO’s recommendations in Mexico is the Federal Institute of Telecommunications (IFT). According to Arthur Roblesthe institute’s commissioner, IFT’s agenda is being redesigned and leaves more room for discussion on technologies such as AI.

Robles recalls a study prepared by IFT that showed that 30% of the Mexican population had heard something or knew something about Artificial Intelligence, the majority of whom were male. Mexicans are aware that they use Intelligence-related applications on a daily basis, such as geolocation, profiling and title recognition.

rodrigo.riquelme@eleconomista.mx