Official name: Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence
Citation: Adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in November 2021
Year / status: Adopted in November 2021; voluntary
What it does
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) adopted this recommendation in November 2021, when all 193 of its Member States agreed to it. UNESCO calls it the first global standard on the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI). It rests on four core values: respecting and promoting human dignity and human rights; fostering just, peaceful and interconnected societies; ensuring diversity and inclusiveness; and supporting a flourishing environment and ecosystems.
Where it applies / status
A recommendation of this kind is a political and moral commitment by governments; each country chooses how to put it into law and practice. UNESCO follows up through tools such as the Global AI Ethics and Governance Observatory, which shows how ready countries are to adopt AI ethically and responsibly. The full text, with its definitions and policy chapters, is in the UNESCO Digital Library.
Documented benefits or intended effects
Ten principles turn those values into practice: proportionality and do no harm; safety and security; the right to privacy and data protection; multi-stakeholder and adaptive governance; responsibility and accountability; transparency and explainability; human oversight and determination; sustainability; awareness and literacy; and fairness and non-discrimination. The recommendation goes beyond principles and gives governments concrete policy recommendations in areas from gender to data to international cooperation, so countries can build ethics into their national AI strategies and laws.
Caveats
The recommendation creates no treaty obligations, and no court or sanction enforces it. Its broad wording leaves room for very different national choices, so its effect depends on what each government does with it. Web pages about it summarise the text; the adopted recommendation itself is the reference.
Sources
The recommendation page and the adopted text in the UNESCO Digital Library.
- UNESCO: Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence)
- UNESCO Digital Library: Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence
- Wikimedia Commons: Architecture, Paris - UNESCO - PHOTO0000002781 0001 (photo)