speaking in Digital World Conference (DWC): AI for social development – Co-organized by the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) – Professor Hinton Emphasizing that rapid advances in AI should be more carefully directed to serve societies – not undermine them.
He told delegates, “If you’ve ever been out in a car that didn’t have brakes, you’d have trouble going down a hill.” “But if there’s no steering wheel you’re in even more trouble.”
His comments came during a busy week for AI policymaking, as governments and UN panels intensified discussions on governance, inclusion and risk management amid the growing integration of artificial intelligence into the global economy and society.
those who have money and those who do not
The pace of AI growth is staggering. According to United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD)’S Technology and Innovation Report 2025, The global AI market is projected to grow from $189 billion in 2023 to $4.8 trillion by 2033.An economy bigger than Japan, created in a single decade.
Yet the ability to create and shape it lies in the hands of only a few economies and companies, warned UNCTAD Acting Secretary-General Pedro Manuel Moreno. Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) meeting is also being held this week.
That concentration threatens to deepen global inequalities. Doreen Bogdan‑Martin, Secretary-General of the United Nations International Telecommunication Union (ITU), reported that the adoption of generic AI in the industrialized ‘Global North’ is growing almost twice as fast as in the developing ‘Global South’.
“Ignoring this, this is the second major divergence – the growing gap between countries that shape artificial intelligence and countries that merely consume it” – Ms Bogdan‑Martin said the gaps in infrastructure, investment and capacity cannot be closed by any one country or organization alone.
The flurry of international activity on AI and digital technology in Geneva and beyond this week reflects the international effort to ensure all countries can benefit from and regulate Artificial Intelligence as it increasingly shapes our economies, societies and daily lives.
Different areas of discussion are becoming clear.
Whereas the Commission’s focus is on science and technology for development Global level digital policy making, Discussion at AI for Social Development Conference Underlines the need for transparent, accountable and rights-based AI governance To address risks such as bias, opaque algorithms and the concentration of large amounts of data in the hands of only a few privileged large corporations.
Participants at the world conference, organized by UNRISD and the international NGO, World Digital Technology Academy, examined the growing role of AI in social protection, labor markets, education and the green energy transition, while emphasizing the importance of protecting vulnerable groups and ensuring that the benefits of technological change are more fairly shared.
Data-driven approach
Any proposals for AI governance must be data-driven and this is the fundamental task of the UN’s Independent International Scientific Panel on AI, which convened its first in-person meeting in Madrid on Wednesday.
Opening the scientific panel’s first in-person meeting in Madrid, co-chair María Ressa explained the group’s mandate to provide independent, scientific and authoritative assessments of how AI systems are shaping society.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Filipino campaigner journalist Ressa warned that increasingly powerful AI tools are undermining democratic systems by using “narrative warfare” in which lies are manufactured and mass-propagated; weakening of institutions such as media and courts; and, finally, strategic corruption when accountability is lost.
Its findings will inform discussions of another major UN AI initiative – the UN Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance – which will also meet in Geneva in July. a worldwide discussion
The findings of the scientific panel, which Ms. Ressa co-chairs with renowned Canadian computer scientist Yoshua Bengio, will inform discussions of another major UN AI initiative – the UN Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance – which will also meet in Geneva in July.
The Global Dialogue brings together all 193 UN Member States, the private sector, civil society, academia and technology to share best practices and create a common approach to AI governance.
“The policy conversation will be science and evidence-based, pooled approaches, scientific perspectives from multidisciplinary lenses from around the worldThe UN Special Envoy for Digital and Emerging Technologies says, Amandeep Gill.
“This is how policy discussions should happen, and the United Nations is very proud to facilitate the first such confluence of science and policy in a rapidly emerging technology.”
