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Ian Bremmer and Amina Mohammed on the promise and peril of AI
In a GZERO Global Stage discussion at the 79th UN General Assembly, Ian Bremmer and Amina Mohammed emphasized the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to drive progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and address global inequities.
Bremmer noted that AI could be the key to achieving goals like clean water access and reducing hunger, pointing out the transformative power AI could bring in the coming years.
"AI is your opportunity," Bremmer said. He highlighted the importance of capacity building, standard setting, and ensuring that the Global South has a seat at the table in AI governance efforts, noting that AI has the potential to move the world towards meaningful progress by 2030.
Amina Mohammed echoed this sentiment but urged caution, emphasizing the need for responsible deployment of AI. "It's really exciting, it's scary, and we're not ready," she said, stressing the importance of investments and proper infrastructure to ensure AI benefits humanity as a whole. Mohammed underscored the responsibility of global leaders to ensure checks and balances are in place as AI continues to evolve.
Bremmer and Mohammed spoke during GZERO’s Global Stage livestream, “Live from the United Nations: Securing our Digital Future,” an event produced in partnership between the Complex Risk Analytics Fund, or CRAF’d, and GZERO Media’s Global Stage series, sponsored by Microsoft. The Global Stage series convenes heads of state, business leaders, and technology experts from around the world for critical debates about the geopolitical and technology trends shaping our world.
Can we use AI to secure the world's digital future?
How do we ensure AI is safe, available to everyone, and enhancing productivity? It’s a big topic at this year’s UN General Assembly. That’s why GZERO’s Global Stage livestream on Tuesday brought together leading experts at the heart of the action for “Live from the United Nations: Securing our Digital Future,” an event produced in partnership between the Complex Risk Analytics Fund, or CRAF’d, and GZERO Media’s Global Stage series, sponsored by Microsoft. The conversation was moderated by Folly Bah Thibault, a journalist and senior presenter for Al-Jazeera English.
Securing the future starts by building a strong foundation, and the International Monetary Fund plays a key role in the fight by matching funding to the needs of developing economies. But it goes deeper than that, said Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. “What we deliver is not just money, it is putting in place strong institutions.
”Those same strong institutions will help build a more peaceful world, said Czech President Petr Pavel — but only if countries can learn to compromise. “If we don’t want to live forever in conflict, we have to finally learn that we have to share this planet.”
In that sense, tackling a lot of the problems the world faces — conflict, inequality, technological disruption — boils down to finding shared values and putting funds where they are most needed. “What is regulation and policy if it is not based on values?” asked Under-Secretary-General for Policy Guy Ryder, adding that good policy, properly funded, would allow “you [to] connect people … and educate them to use the technologies” that could prove transformative.
Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said AI technology will play a crucial role in helping the world achieve Sustainable Development Goals — most of which are in very rough shape. “It’s not about stopping, it’s about really accelerating” to make good on what can be achieved by 2030.
Eurasia Group and GZERO Media President Ian Bremmer said his work with the UN on developing an international framework for AI has focused on “deploying AI to help up meet the sustainable development goals.”
But safeguards aren’t enough, said Microsoft President Brad Smith. “Guardrails aren’t going to ensure it reaches everybody. Investment will,” he said. Microsoft is the largest investor in OpenAI and has invested in more than 20 AI-related startups.
The US State Department is also working to leverage artificial intelligence in advancing global peace. “We see data as the lens that brings the factors that drive instability into focus,” said Anne Witkowsky, assistant secretary of state for conflict and stabilization operations. That means using AI to bring together the big picture — economics, politics, climate, sociology — to identify hot spots before problems spiral.
Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development Workneh Gebeyehu offered a practical example: “We have a climate center that works for all Africa to predict droughts, floods, and locust storms,” relying on pattern recognition technology. That helps farmers and governments react in real-time, ideally avoiding the worst of the catastrophes.
Staving off "the dark side" of artificial intelligence: UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed
Artificial Intelligence promises revolutionary advances in the way we work, live and govern ourselves, but is it all a rosy picture?
United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed says that while the potential benefits are enormous, “so is the dark side.” Without thoughtful leadership, the world could lose a precious opportunity to close major social divides. She spoke during a Global Stage livestream event at UN headquarters in New York on September 22, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The discussion was moderated by Nicholas Thompson of The Atlantic and was held by GZERO Media in collaboration with the United Nations, the Complex Risk Analytics Fund, and the Early Warnings for All initiative.
She says it will take a “transformative mindset” and an eagerness to tackle more and bigger problems to pull off the transition, and emphasizes the severe mismatch of capable leadership with positions of power.
"Where there is leadership, there's not much power. And where there is power, that leadership is struggling,” she said.
Watch the full Global Stage conversation: Can data and AI save lives and make the world safer?
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Can data and AI save lives and make the world safer?
The global climate crisis is acute. In the last few months alone, Hawaii, Morocco and Libya have experienced climate-linked catastrophes that have wiped out communities and killed tens of thousands of people.
At the same time, emerging tech – notably artificial intelligence and data ecosystems – are becoming increasingly sophisticated and influential. There’s been much focus on the perils and threats posed by these scientific developments, but how can they be proactively harnessed to mitigate climate challenges and create a more resilient world?
On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, GZERO Media held a Global Stage livestream event unpacking these complex challenges and opportunities, in collaboration with the United Nations, the Complex Risk Analytics Fund, and the Early Warnings for All initiative.
This urgent conversation was be moderated by Nick Thompson, CEO, The Atlantic; and featured Melinda Bohannon, Director General of Humanitarian and Development at the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office; Ian Bremmer, President and Founder of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media; Vilas Dhar, President and Trustee, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation; Dr. Comfort Ero, President and CEO of International Crisis Group; Mami Mizutori, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction; Amina Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General; Amandeep Singh Gill, UN Envoy on Technology; Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President, Microsoft; Axel van Trostenburg, World Bank Managing Director; and Anne Witkowsky, Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations at the US Department of State.
Emerging tech is presenting huge opportunities to identify climate hotspots and scale damage and destruction. Indeed, Smith says that satellites are able to not only capture visual images, but also gather “data streams” on fossil fuel emissions. In addition, AI is also being harnessed to identify communities affected by climate calamities and see which “people have been rendered homeless.” Still, tech companies can’t do it alone. In order to identify what their exact needs are, Smith adds, partnerships with NGOs and other stakeholders are key.
Amandeep Singh Gill had much to say about how these processes are applied in real time, particularly when addressing world hunger. “Across 90 countries, 700-800 million people are at risk of food insecurity,” he notes, adding that using data across institutions has allowed the multilateral organization “to get assessments about where food insecurity is going to spike next, and that allows us to respond in a better way.”
Still, having access to copious amounts of data is one thing, but figuring out how to use it to effectuate change is quite another. “There's a real gap between the information that's out there and the ability to act upon the information that's out there,” Dr Ero says, adding that “lack of policy and action” and failure to act quickly when crises are identified are hindering these global efforts. Dr Ero points to the situation in Somalia, which is still grappling with an insurgency by the Al-Shabaab terror group while also facing floods and trying to rebuild its society. “All the data points are showing the stresses that Somalia has to deal with, but why aren't we able to respond to that?” she asks, highlighting poor governance and lack of political will as impediments to progress.
When asked about how these issues might be affected by the fact that heads of state from four out of five permanent members of the UN Security Council did not show up at the UN General Assembly this week, Amina Mohammed said there is “huge momentum” from governments and stakeholders. “The 2030 agenda is urgent, and we really do just feel that there is a movement to make that happen. There's a sense of determination … too many people are at stake.”
And there’s one elephant in the room when discussing climate change and tech advancements: China. One big issue, Bremmer notes, “is that China is really distracted by very significant domestic economic challenges and that has put real constraints, material constraints, on their foreign policy strategy over the long term,” he says.
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- Staving off "the dark side" of artificial intelligence: UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed - GZERO Media ›
Watch our livestream: Reimagining Tomorrow: LIVE from the UN General Assembly
The climate crisis looms large, affecting at least 3.3 billion people directly. In 2023 alone, almost 340 million individuals need emergency support globally, over 100 million are displaced in search of sustainable refuge, and the shadow of hunger extends to more than 230 million people. How can we leverage technological breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI), analytics, and data ecosystems to shape a more resilient and optimistic tomorrow?
Watch our virtual livestream, Reimagining Tomorrow: Breakthroughs in Data and AI for a More Resilient World, LIVE from the United Nations General Assembly on September 21 at 10 am ET. Hosted by GZERO Media in collaboration with the United Nations, the Complex Risk Analytics Fund, and the Early Warnings for All initiative, the event will bring together global leaders and change-makers to envision a world where the power of data, analytics, and AI is harnessed to pave the way for a sustainable and resilient future.
This special conversation will be moderated by Nick Thompson, CEO, The Atlantic; and feature Melinda Bohannon, Director General of Humanitarian and Development at the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office; Ian Bremmer, President and Founder of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media; Vilas Dhar, President and Trustee, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation; Dr. Comfort Ero, President and CEO of International Crisis Group; Mami Mizutori, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction; Amina Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General; Amandeep Singh Gill, UN Envoy on Technology; Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President, Microsoft; Axel van Trostenburg, World Bank Managing Director; Dr. Comfort Ero, President and CEO of International Crisis Group; and Anne Witkowsky, Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations at the U.S. Department of State.
LIVE from the United Nations General Assembly
Reimagining Tomorrow: Breakthroughs in Data and AI for a More Resilient World
Thursday, September 21, 10am ET
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