By Cyber Era NG Special Correspondent

Artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics innovators—and their high-tech creations—will join humanitarian leaders in Geneva, Switzerland, July 6-7, for the latest edition of the global summit advancing AI to drive sustainable development.

Two high-level roundtables – featuring policy-makers, diplomats, industry executives, academics, and UN partners – will host crucial discussions on the guardrails needed for safe and responsible AI and the potential development of global AI governance frameworks. 

“It’s in our collective interest that we can shape AI faster than it is shaping us,” said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin. “This summit, as the UN’s primary platform for AI, will bring to the table leading voices representing a diversity of interests to ensure that AI can be a powerful catalyst for progress in our race to rescue the SDGs.”

Innovative solutions and world-class speakers

The two-day AI for Good Global Summit organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), together with 40 partner UN agencies, will demonstrate how new technologies can support the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in areas such as combatting the climate crisis and bolstering humanitarian response.

Generative AI and human-machine collaboration will be key themes amid the release of tools that are beginning to change the way we think about creativity and productivity.

The AI for Good Global Summit will feature eight humanoid social robots and over 50 specialized robots, being brought together for the first time under the same roof. The robots will showcase capabilities ranging from fighting fires and delivering aid to providing healthcare and farming sustainably.

The event will also host the final round of the AI for Good Innovation Factory where start-ups from around the world will pitch their AI solutions to advance the SDGs.

More than a summit

The AI for Good Global Summit, established in 2017, returns to Geneva in person for the first time since 2019. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, AI for Good transformed into a year-round online engagement platform bringing together a diverse range of participants from 183 countries.

This year’s summit combines the best of the physical and virtual worlds, with the potential to welcome over 3,000 participants in Geneva alongside online participation from the over 20,000 members of ITU’s fast-growing AI-powered community platform, the AI for Good Neural Network.

The event will emphasize networking to build new projects, calls to action, and partnerships. AI for Good’s dynamic show floor will also include AI-inspired performances and artwork.  

ITU connects the world

AI for Good is organized by ITU, the UN specialized agency for information and communication technologies, together with 40 partner UN agencies. The summit is co-convened by the government of Switzerland.

ITU’s global membership includes 193 Member States and – uniquely in the UN system – over 900 companies, universities, and international and regional organizations.

Member States at ITU’s governing Plenipotentiary Conference in 2022 adopted a resolution supporting the tech agency’s work across the UN system to realize the benefits of AI for sustainable development.  

The two-day AI for Good Global Summit at The International Conference Centre Geneva is preceded by nine machine learning workshops on 5 July led by experts from the AI of Good Discovery series.

Participation in the AI for Good Global Summit is free of charge and open to everyone.

Where human and robot minds meet

Confirmed summit participants include:

 – Historian, philosopher, and bestselling author of “Sapiens” and “Homo Deus” (presenting online) Yuval Noah Harari

 – Scientist, bestselling author, and serial entrepreneur, NYU, Gary Marcus

 – Inventor, futurist & bestselling author of ‘The Singularity is Near’, Ray Kurzweil

– Chief Operating Officer, DeepMind, Lila Ibrahim

– Group CEO, BenevolentAI, former UK Minister for Internet Safety and Security, Baroness Joanna Shields

​ – Professor of Computer Science at University of California, Berkeley, and author of “Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control” Stuart Russell

– Carnegie/Uehiro Fellow and Co-direct of the AI and Equality Initiative, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, Wendell Wallach

– VP & Chief Data Scientist, Microsoft AI for Good Research Lab, Juan Lavista Ferres

 – Warren Distinguished Professor of Law, University of San Diego, and author of “The Equality Machine” (among The Economist’s best books of 2022) Orly Lobel

Robots at the summit include:

Ameca –  the most advanced lifelike robot in the world (Engineered Arts)

Nadine – one of the world’s most realistic humanoid social robots (University of Geneva)

Sophia – first robot Innovation Ambassador for the United Nations Development Program (Hanson Robotics)

Geminoid – ultra-realistic humanoid robot from Japan (Hiroshi Ishiguro)

4NE-1 – one of the world’s most advanced cognitive humanoid robots designed to collaborate with humans (Neura Robotics)

Ai-Da Robot – first ultra-realistic robot artist (Aidan Meller)

Grace – the world’s most advanced humanoid healthcare robot (SingularityNET)

Desdemona – the rockstar robot of the Jam Galaxy Band

The AI for Good Global Summit 2023, co-convened by Switzerland, is supported by Immersion4 (Diamond sponsor), Technology Innovation Institute (Diamond sponsor), AWS (Gold sponsor), Monash Data Futures Institute at Monash University (Gold sponsor), ZTE (Gold sponsor), Microsoft Corporation (Gold sponsor), the Communications, Space & Technology Commission, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Gold sponsor), Shutterstock (Artistic Intelligence sponsor), Rohde & Schwarz (Networking sponsor), Kuka (Networking Sponsor) and Samsung (Supporter sponsor).