The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) welcomes you to the 2022 Innovations Dialogue: AI Disruption, Peace, and Security (ID22). The fourth edition of the flagship conference will examine the state of play and the future of artificial intelligence (AI), survey the potential risks and rewards of AI technologies for international peace and security, and explore the path to Responsible AI.
This event was livestreamed on Thursday 20 October 2022 (see below):
Novel advances in AI and efforts to integrate AI technologies in critical sectors are gradually transforming all aspects of our society. However, as the field of AI is evolving rapidly, there exists conceptual ambiguity and uncertainty regarding what AI is, what it can do, its perils and promises, and where it is headed. This makes the governance of AI technologies challenging, particularly in the high-risk defence and security context. These challenges are further compounded by the nature of the AI research and innovation landscape that has a strong open-source and democratized culture, being driven largely by the AI research community comprising of big-technology companies, start-ups, university laboratories and individual AI researchers.
States cannot thus solely grasp and address the complex issues associated with advances in AI technologies and their impact on international peace and security. These complex challenges first and foremost require systematic and continuous multistakeholder deliberations. In this spirit, the 2022 Innovations Dialogue will provide a platform for governments, the AI research community, and civil society to collectively decode AI and examine the disruptive impact of AI advances on international peace and security today and in the future.
When & Where
20 October 2022 08:30-18:00 EDT. Hybrid format: New York (Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice, 320 E 43rd St) and online.
Participants
UNIDIR encourages the participation of representatives and experts working on or interested in issues pertaining to advancement of digital technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, and their implications for international peace and security.
RSVP
Please specify if you will be attending in person or if you will be connecting remotely. For organizational purposes, in-person registration will close on 18 October 2022. The link to access the broadcast of ID22 will be provided by email to registered participants one day prior to the event.
For any questions, please contact UNIDIR Security and Technology Programme (sectec-unidir@un.org).
Agenda
Accessible text version also available below.
08:30-08:40: Conference Opening
- Robin Geiss, Director, UNIDIR
Session 1: Decoding AI – The State of Play and the Future of AI
08:40-10:00: Panel I: What even is, AI? – The State of Play and the Future of AI
This session will provide a foundational understanding of the concept of AI, the state of play of AI technologies and their most important functionalities. It will also reflect on some of the current obstacles to and opportunities for advancement and where AI is headed in the future.
- Abhishek Gupta, Founder and Principal Researcher, Montreal AI Ethics Institute and Senior Responsible AI Leader & Expert, Boston Consulting Group
- Jason Lin, Research Fellow in AI Safety, Stanford Existential Risk Initiative; 3D Perception Lead, Lyft Self-Driving; Autonomous AI, Google X
- Julia Stoyanovich, Associate Professor of Computer Science & Engineering, Associate Professor of Data Science, Director of the Center for Responsible AI, New York University
Moderated by Ioana Puscas, Researcher, Security and Technology Programme, UNIDIR
10:00-10:15: Coffee break
Session 2: The Risks and Rewards of AI for International Peace and Security
10:15-11:20: Panel II: Uses of AI in Military Operations
This panel will discuss how AI innovations could transform military operations. It will examine the potential risks and benefits of the use of AI as a decision-support tool more broadly, taking the discussions beyond autonomous weapons which have been the focus of multilateral discussions. Particularly, this session will discuss the uses of AI technologies in command-and-control systems, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) activities and military planning and logistics.
- S. Kate Devitt, Chief Scientist, Trusted Autonomous Systems Defence Cooperative Research Centre and Adjunct Professor QUT Centre for Robotics, Queensland University of Technology
- Martin Hagström, Programme Manager, Swedish Defence Research Agency
- Margarita Konaev, Deputy Director of Analysis, Center for Security and Emerging Technology
- Kerstin Vignard, Senior Analyst, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab; Research Scholar, Science Diplomacy & Tech Policy, Institute for Assured Autonomy; Non-resident Senior Fellow, UNIDIR
Moderated by Alisha Anand, Associate Researcher, Security and Technology Programme, UNIDIR
11:20-12:20: Lunch break
12:20-13:40: Panel III: The Disruptive Impact of AI Across Domains of Warfare
This panel will survey specific potential risks and benefits of integrating AI technologies as an enabler of autonomy across domains of warfare, especially in its convergence with other powerful dual-use technologies. Particularly, this panel will focus on the following topics: AI and Cyberspace; AI and Biotechnologies; AI, Nuclear Risk and Strategic Stability; AI and Outer Space.
- Li Bin, Professor, Department of International Relations, Tsinghua University
- Alexander Liskin, Head of Threat Research, Kaspersky
- Eleonore Pauwels, Senior Fellow, Global Center on Cooperative Security
- Andrew Reddie, Faculty, University of California, Berkeley
Moderated by Beyza Unal, Head of Science, Technology and International Security Unit, UN Office for Disarmament Affairs
13:40-14:45: Panel IV: AI for Peace – AI and Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding
This panel will focus on harnessing AI solutions for conflict prevention and peacebuilding. It will examine which, how and for what purposes AI-enabled tools can be used in this context. Further, it will discuss the potential risks and challenges of leveraging AI solutions for conflict prevention and peacebuilding.
- Paula Hidalgo-Sanchis, Senior Programme Manager, United Nations Global Pulse
- Andrew Konya, Founder, Remesh
- Martin Waehlisch, Team Leader, Innovation Cell, United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs
Moderated by Sarah Grand-Clément, Researcher, Conventional Arms and the Security and Technology Programmes, UNIDIR
1445-15:10: Coffee break
Session 3: Towards Responsible AI
15:10-16:50: Panel V: Unpacking and Operationalizing the Responsible AI Toolbox
This panel will unpack what Responsible AI is and the elements that comprise the responsible AI toolbox. It will also examine how the Responsible AI toolbox can be put in practice. What are the best practices? What are the gaps and challenges and how should they be addressed?
Unpacking the Responsible AI Toolbox
- Ashley Casovan, Executive Director, Responsible AI Institute
- Rebecca Finlay, Chief Executive Officer, Partnership on AI
- Emma Ruttkamp-Bloem, Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Pretoria, Centre for AI Research, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
- Sonali Sanghrajka, Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer, Kosa.ai
Operationalizing the Responsible AI Toolbox
- Eugenio Vargas Garcia, Tech Diplomat, Brazilian Consulate General in San Francisco
- Daniel Kluttz, Director of Sensitive Uses at the Office of Responsible AI, Microsoft
- Diane Staheli, Responsible AI Chief at the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office, Department of Defense, USA
- Alice Xiang, Global Head of AI Ethics, Sony
Moderated by Giacomo Persi Paoli, Prgramme Head, Security and Technology, UNIDIR
16:50-17:55: Panel VI: Building a Culture of Responsible AI: A Shared Responsibility
This concluding panel will discuss the shared roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders – governments, industry, universities, civil society, and the UN – with respect to fostering a culture of Responsible AI design, development, deployment, and use. How can a Responsible AI culture be created and sustained? Who is responsible for Responsible AI? How can we build synergies between bottom-up and top-down approaches to Responsible AI?
- Sumaya H. Al Hajeri, AI Expert – UAE AI Expert Group
- Adedeji Ebo, Director and Deputy to the High Representative, UN Office for Disarmament Affairs
- Marek Havrda, Deputy Minister for European Affairs, Government of the Czech Republic
- Catherine Régis, Full professor of Law and Associate Vice-President, University of Montreal and Co-Chair of the Working Group on Responsible AI of the Global Partnership on AI
Moderated by Robin Geiss, Director, UNIDIR
17:55-18:00: Conference closing
- Robin Geiss, Director, UNIDIR
18:00-20:00: Reception (Sponsored by the Kingdom of the Netherlands)