Start small but think big: Establishing an international organization for artificial intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (‘AI’) is already impacting society significantly, and is likely to profoundly affect virtually every aspect of human life in the future. It thus presents a critical governance concern. This article discusses the nature of that challenge, and considers whether a new international institution should be established to help govern and regulate AI. It is argued that an AI focused international organization is needed. It is required to produce authoritative information on the state of AI, provide technical assistance to disadvantaged states on developing robust AI regulatory frameworks, and help create and enforce global norms that address AI’s threats. To achieve consensus on establishing such an organization, initially, it could engage in the former two tasks as they are narrow in nature. But the organization should have an ability to scale up its work to perform the latter function, as and when needed. Moreover, any AI focused international institution must allow for well thought-out private sector participation. Without such participation, the chances of its success are negligible. The paper concludes that it takes considerable effort and time to build new institutions. With the pace of AI advancements, if the international community does not start now, it may be too late to develop a robust institution with the care and caution that is warranted.