Balancing the AI revolution: Lessons from BRICS New Delhi Summit

The 18th BRICS Summit concluded in New Delhi, underscoring the urgent need to embrace artificial intelligence (AI) while ensuring its safe, inclusive, and equitable development. As AI rapidly transforms economies, societies, and technology engagement, the New Delhi Declaration emphasizes strengthening governance, expanding access to AI resources, and preventing inequality deepening.

Leaders are committed to implementing the BRICS Leaders’ Statement on the Global Governance of Artificial Intelligence while advocating for wider access, stronger safeguards, and more inclusive participation in AI's development and governance.

The rapid advancement of AI is both remarkable and worrisome; its implications for economies and societies are vast, with significant potential to boost economic growth and sustainable development. However, the technology also poses risks, including security threats, data protection failures, cybercrime, misinformation, disinformation, hate speech, and deepfakes.

If left unchecked, AI could exacerbate existing inequalities by concentrating technological capabilities and economic benefits in a few hands, leaving societies vulnerable to disproportionate risks.

The New Delhi Declaration acknowledges the AI sector's promise for sectors such as healthcare, energy, manufacturing, and the green economy. These technologies could help BRICS nations and the Global South overcome traditional development constraints by improving education, healthcare diagnostics, agricultural productivity, and energy systems. Yet, the declaration warns that unchecked AI acceleration might lead to an unbalanced race toward undesirable consequences.

President Cyril Ramaphosa proposed establishing an international mechanism for the independent scientific evaluation of AI to address global fairness and ensure that the Global South becomes more than just data providers and end-users. Computing power, multilingual datasets, specialized talent, and advanced models remain concentrated among a few, highlighting the need for enhanced AI resources' accessibility while maintaining safety, security, and inclusivity.

Collaboration is essential for responsible AI development. Open-source collaboration, joint research, and support for sovereign digital ecosystems are crucial to ensure countries can shape AI according to their unique development priorities and needs. Governance frameworks must keep pace with technological advancements, balancing intellectual property protection, responsible technology transfer, and the public interest.

The focus should be on innovation that is safe, accountable, and accessible, rather than slowing down progress.

International cooperation is vital to address AI challenges transcending borders, particularly during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. The next steps involve fostering cooperation in AI development and deployment, ensuring safety, accountability, accessibility, and reliability, and aligning global efforts to fulfill the technology's potential for good.