30 Sep 2024 The Global Digital Compact: A step in the right direction

In one part of the world, in Nairobi, Kenya, street vendors are doing booming business with “art” generated by artificial intelligence whose pricing matches or is even higher than real art.

What constitutes “art” may be in the eyes of the beholder, but it seems no industry, no facet of everyday life, is too sacred for AI. True that AI has revolutionized critical sectors such as healthcare and education. Also true that it has sparked fears of job loss, privacy, disrespect of intellectual property rights, and even the future of humanity.

AI is part of a bigger picture about digital transformation. In another part of the world, at the just-concluded “Summit of the Future” in New York to be precise, world leaders agreed on a plan for digital transformation. The plan concludes numerous similar discussions held over the past few years. In the Global Digital Compact annexed to the Summit’s outcome document, signatories committed to take specific steps to “enhance international governance of artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity.”

The road towards the final version of the Compact was marked by rigorous debates on wording to recognize the interests of a range of stakeholders. Controversies came into play as well — to note, the challenge by tech leaders through an open letter to the UN, met with a rejoinder titled “Why the people of the world need a Global Digital Compact” issued by the Global Digital Justice Forum, of which WACC is a member.

It is true that numerous international agreements have remained aspirational for the most part, achieving only a fraction of their goals. The extent to which the Compact will be successfully implemented remains to be seen. Nonetheless, any success, however small, will be a goal in the net for humanity.

In case you’re wondering, to quote vendor Sam Maina in an article by Citizen TV Kenya on the sale of AI-generated art in Nairobi, “the people who know about art just back off once they touch the pieces.”

Image: Screengrab from Citizen TV Kenya’s video “How Nairobi hawkers are cashing in on Artificial Intelligence”