Feb 12, 2025   SOURCE: PR NewsWire

Statement on Inclusive and Sustainable Artificial Intelligence for People and the Planet

PARIS, Feb. 12, 2025 /CNW/ -

1. Participants from over 100 countries, including government leaders, international organisations, representatives of civil society, the private sector, and the academic and research communities gathered in Paris on February 10 and 11, 2025, to hold the AI Action Summit. Rapid development of AI technologies represents a major paradigm shift, impacting our citizens, and societies in many ways. In line with the Paris Pact for People and the Planet, and the principles that countries must have ownership of their transition strategies, we have identified priorities and launched concrete actions to advance the public interest and to bridge digital divides through accelerating progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our actions are grounded in three main principles of science, solutions - focusing on open AI models in compliance with countries frameworks - and policy standards, in line with international frameworks.

2. This Summit has highlighted the importance of reinforcing the diversity of the AI ecosystem. It has laid an open, multi-stakeholder and inclusive approach that will enable AI to be human rights based, human-centric, ethical, safe, secure and trustworthy while also stressing the need and urgency to narrow the inequalities and assist developing countries in artificial intelligence capacity-building so they can build AI capacities.

3. Acknowledging existing multilateral initiatives on AI, including the United Nations General Assembly Resolutions, the Global Digital Compact, the UNESCO Recommendation on Ethics of AI, the African Union Continental AI Strategy, and the works of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Council of Europe and European Union, the G7 including the Hiroshima AI Process and G20, we have affirmed the following main priorities:

    --  Promoting AI accessibility to reduce digital divides
    --  Ensuring AI is open, inclusive, transparent, ethical, safe, secure and
        trustworthy, taking into account international frameworks for all
    --  Making innovation in AI thrive by enabling conditions for its
        development and avoiding market concentration driving industrial
        recovery and development
    --  Encouraging AI deployment that positively shapes the future of work and
        labour markets and delivers opportunity for sustainable growth
    --  Making AI sustainable for people and the planet
    --  Reinforcing international cooperation to promote coordination in
        international governance

To deliver on these priorities: 

    --  Founding members have launched a major Public Interest AI Platform and
        Incubator, to support, amplify, decrease fragmentation between existing
        public and private initiatives on Public Interest AI and address digital
        divides. The Public interest AI Initiative will sustain and support
        digital public goods and technical assistance and capacity building
        projects in data, model development, openness and transparency, audit,
        compute, talent, financing and collaboration to support and co-create a
        trustworthy AI ecosystem advancing the public interest of all, for all
        and by all.
    --  We have discussed, at a Summit for the first time and in a
        multi-stakeholder format, issues related to AI and energy. This
        discussion has led to sharing knowledge to foster investments for
        sustainable AI systems (hardware, infrastructure, models), to promoting
        an international discussion on AI and environment, to welcoming an
        observatory on the energy impact of AI with the International Energy
        Agency, to showcasing energy-friendly AI innovation.
    --  We recognize the need to enhance our shared knowledge on the impacts of
        AI in the job market, though the creation of network of Observatories,
        to better anticipate AI implications for workplaces, training and
        education and to use AI to foster productivity, skill development,
        quality and working conditions and social dialogue.

4. We recognize the need for inclusive multistakeholder dialogues and cooperation on AI governance. We underline the need for a global reflection integrating inter alia questions of safety, sustainable development, innovation, respect of international laws including humanitarian law and human rights law and the protection of human rights, gender equality, linguistic diversity, protection of consumers and of intellectual property rights. We take notes of efforts and discussions related to international fora where AI governance is examined. As outlined in the Global Digital Compact adopted by the UN General Assembly, participants also reaffirmed their commitment to initiate a Global Dialogue on AI governance and the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and to align on-going governance efforts, ensuring complementarity and avoiding duplication.

5. Harnessing the benefits of AI technologies to support our economies and societies depends on advancing Trust and Safety. We commend the role of the Bletchley Park AI Safety Summit and Seoul Summits that have been essential in progressing international cooperation on AI safety and we note the voluntary commitments launched there. We will keep addressing the risks of AI to information integrity and continue the work on AI transparency.

6. We look forward to next AI milestones such as the Kigali Summit, the 3rd Global Forum on the Ethics of AI hosted by Thailand and UNESCO, the 2025 World AI Conference and the AI for Good Global Summit 2025 to follow up on our commitments and continue to take concrete actions aligned with a sustainable and inclusive AI.

Signatory countries:

    1. Armenia
    2. Australia
    3. Austria
    4. Belgium
    5. Brazil
    6. Bulgaria
    7. Cambodia
    8. Canada
    9. Chile
    10. China
    11. Croatia
    12. Cyprus
    13. Czechia
    14. Denmark
    15. Djibouti
    16. Estonia
    17. Finland
    18. France
    19. Germany
    20. Greece
    21. Hungary
    22. India
    23. Indonesia
    24. Ireland
    25. Italy
    26. Japan
    27. Kazakhstan
    28. Kenya
    29. Latvia
    30. Lithuania
    31. Luxembourg
    32. Malta
    33. Mexico
    34. Monaco
    35. Morocco
    36. New Zealand
    37. Nigeria
    38. Norway
    39. Poland
    40. Portugal
    41. Romania
    42. Rwanda
    43. Senegal
    44. Serbia
    45. Singapore
    46. Slovakia
    47. Slovenia
    48. South Africa
    49. Republic of Korea
    50. Spain
    51. Sweden
    52. Switzerland
    53. Thailand
    54. Netherlands
    55. United Arab Emirates
    56. Ukraine
    57. Uruguay
    58. Vatican
    59. European Union
    60. African Union Commission

This document is also available at https://pm.gc.ca

SOURCE Government of Canada