Excellencies,
Dear colleagues,
I would first like to thank the speakers for their briefings and commend Greece for its initiative in organizing this Arria-formula meeting, with which France is associated.
We are all aware of the scale of the revolution introduce by artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential to transform our societies, our economies and our institutions. The Security Council must examine this matter in greater depth in order to better identify the potential opportunities and risks within the scope of its mandate.
I would like to share three messages with you.
First of all, France is committed to build a multi-stakeholder, inclusive and sustainable international governance of AI, putting it at the service of the general interest.
There is a risk that AI will develop at different speeds throughout the world, limiting its access to a privileged few. Our collective responsibility is therefore to create a shared governance framework, in line with the aspiration for an open, inclusive and safe AI that respects human rights and is accessible to all.
This ambition was at the heart of the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit, held in Paris last February, with the participation of more than 100 countries, governments, researchers, entrepreneurs and representatives of civil society. The work of the Summit enabled inclusive discussions aimed at defining concrete solutions and initiatives to put AI at the service of the general interest, development, sustainability and progress for all. This is the spirit of “CurrentAI”, a new global partnership for AI capacity building launched in Paris and aiming to raise a total of USD 2.5 billion over the next five years.
Secondly, the vision of a safe AI that respects international law must inspire our work within the United Nations.
The Global Digital Compact adopted last September calls on us to seize the opportunities offered by emerging technologies, including AI, while addressing the risks associated with their misuse. France calls for the rapid establishment of the independent scientific panel and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance, which are enshrined in the Global Digital Compact. France fully supports Spain and Costa Rica, who are co-facilitating this process. This new architecture will enable the sharing of information for a common approach to AI. The work of the Security Council will undoubtedly benefit from this.
Mr. Chair,
France supports initiatives and processes aimed at ensuring that the development of military AI is in line with international law, in particular international humanitarian law.
This is an important issue when it comes to the development of AI in the defense sector. At the Paris AI Action Summit, France promoted the adoption of a declaration, supported to date by 27 States, on maintaining human control over AI-enabled weapons systems. In this declaration, we affirmed our commitment to never transfer life-or-death decisions to machines operating beyond any form of human control, and our willingness to continue participating in the multilateral dialogue on these issues. France is also involved in the “REAIM” process, which is making remarkable efforts to understand the issues at stake in the development of military AI. We also supported the resolution on the responsible use of AI in the military field, presented in the First Committee of the General Assembly by South Korea. We also call upon all States to submit contributions to the Secretary-General’s report on the related challenge of lethal autonomous weapons systems. The Geneva-based forums must carry out their mandate on this subject, and France will spare no effort in this regard.
Thirdly, as part of its mandate, the Security Council must contribute to AI governance efforts, using its potential for the maintenance of international peace and security.
The AI revolution has implications for the work of the Security Council. The misuse of AI exacerbates some of the threats we face, for example when it is used to conduct disinformation campaigns that can target peacekeeping forces, undermine their legitimacy or affect their actions.
Excellencies,
Dear colleagues,
While taking these emerging threats into account, the Council and its subsidiary bodies must increase their efforts to better use the benefits of AI. AI technologies have the potential to provide valuable support for embargo monitoring or peacekeeping operations in the implementation of their mandates.
In conclusion, France stands ready to contribute to the Council’s work to advance the responsible use of artificial intelligence in the service of international peace and security.
Thank you.