President Meloni’s video message to the AI Seoul Summit
Martedì, 21 Maggio 2024
The President of the Council of Ministers, Giorgia Meloni, today addressed the leaders’ meeting at the AI Seoul Summit, co-organised by the President of the Republic of Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, via video message. The leaders of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Korea, and Singapore, as well as the Vice President of the United States of America and the Vice President of the European Commission, also participated.
The meeting was held in remote format and was the first follow-up to the AI Safety Summit that was held at Bletchley Park, in the United Kingdom, on 1-2 November 2023, broadening the scope of discussions. Also present at the Summit were the heads of some of the world’s leading technology companies.
Dear Yoon, Dear Rishi,
First of all, thanks for organising this Summit, which advances the work we initiated together last November at Bletchley Park.
Artificial Intelligence is a momentous challenge for the whole of society. We are facing a new frontier of progress, which poses the unprecedented threat of challenging the very principle of human beings’ centrality.
Compared to any other revolution in history, generative AI prefigures a world in which progress no longer optimises human capabilities, but rather replaces them. And while in the past such replacement mainly concerned physical work – so that people could devote themselves to intellectual and organisational activities – now it is exactly our intellect that risks being replaced.
If left unmanaged, the resulting impact is inevitable even on the most highly skilled professionals. More and more workers could then become useless; wealth would risk becoming increasingly more concentrated and verticalised than it currently is; and middle classes, the backbone of our societies, could disappear.
Geopolitical scenarios and current balances are also bound to be affected by Artificial Intelligence, as it can ensure a competitive advantage to those who manage and use it.
History has taught us that tensions and even conflicts can arise both from races aimed at gaining such competitive advantage and from the gaps between those who have gained such advantage and those who instead lag behind. It is therefore necessary to build – together – global governance mechanisms, while respecting the various approaches implemented in single national realities.
This is a challenge for everyone. For governments, called upon to identify and agree on a common approach within multilateral frameworks; but also and above all for businesses and the private sector, which must focus on risk management, accountability and transparency.
It is crucial that governments and businesses – hence, both the public sector and the private sector – work together and jointly develop an alliance to ensure that AI development is human-scale, human-controlled and human-centred; that its ultimate goal is the “human being”.
This is also why the Italian G7 Presidency has recognised Artificial Intelligence as one of its priorities. At the G7 Leaders' Summit in Apulia we will be honoured to host Pope Francis in the “outreach” session dedicated to Artificial Intelligence. For the very first time in history a Pontiff will take part in the G7 works, and I am certain that his presence will make a decisive contribution to the definition of a regulatory, ethical and cultural framework on the topic.
However, we are also committed to launching, always within the G7 context, an action plan on AI use in the labour market, because such technology will involve – sooner or later and with different focuses – the entire world of work, enterprise and production, and will not be limited to technological excellence profiles. Innovation, regulation and safety must go hand in hand.
At Bletchley Park, we delivered great work, notably with the definition of agreed safety tests for enterprises; and I am convinced that this Summit will enable us to take important steps forward.
AI language is adaptable and evolves rapidly, therefore we must perform the same adaptability and fast pace of change, so that the risks that can arise from AI development will not prevent us from grasping its great opportunities.
It is not an easy challenge, but we are ready – as ever – to play our part, with no hesitation.
Thank you Yoon, thank you Rishi, and good work everyone!