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ITU AI for Good

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For other uses, see AI for Good.
AI for Good
AI for Good logo
Begins8 July 2025
Ends11 July 2025
VenuePalexpo
Location(s)Geneva
CountrySwitzerland
Years active7
Most recent2024
Attendance20,000 (2022)
Organised byITU-T
SponsorsSwiss Confederation, Deloitte, Technology Innovation Institute, DLA Piper, King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, Microsoft, China Mobile, Alibaba Group, Amazon Web Services, China Telecom, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications,Ministry of Science and ICT, ZTE, China Unicom, Salesforce, PwC, KUKA, CEIMIA, Huawei, FSAB Consulting, Cisco, Samsung, Gen Digital, Ernst & Young
Websiteaiforgood.itu.int

AI for Good was established in 2017 by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations (UN) agency for digital technologies. The platform is co-convened with the Government of Switzerland and in partnership with over 40 UN agencies.[1] Its self-declared mission is to use artificial intelligence (AI) to help achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

AI for Good arose from s collaboration between ITU and IBM Watson AI XPRIZE. The inaugural AI for Good Global Summit 2017[2] in Geneva, Switzerland, was attended by over 400 people from AI, including Stuart Russell, Yoshua Bengio, Fei-Fei Li. Over the years, the platform has grown, evolving into a multi-stakeholder community including governments, academia, industry, civil society and UN.

Today, AI for Good is recognized as the UN’s leading platform advancing trustworthy AI for sustainable development.[3]

With the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and global shutdowns, AI for Good moved online in March 2020. It launched virtual sessions to continue fostering collaboration on practical AI solutions to advance the SDGs.

In 2022, the AI for Good Neural Network[4] launched an AI-powered community and content platform designed to connect thought leaders, industry professionals, policymakers, researchers, innovators, and civil society from around the globe. This free platform offers inclusive access to all original AI for Good content since 2017.

During this time AI for Good has supported Global Initiatives on AI and Data Commons, [5] AI for Health[6] (in partnership with WHO), on Resilience to Natural Hazards through AI Solutions[7] (former ITU/WMO/UNEP Focus Group on Artificial Intelligence for Natural Disaster Management (FG-AI4NDM)[8] ), AI and Multimedia authenticity standards collaboration[9] (under the World Standards Cooperation[10]), AI for Road Safety[11] (in partnership with UNECE) and pre-standardization focus groups[12] on Artificial Intelligence Native for Telecommunication Networks (FG-AINN),[13] AI and Internet of Things (IoT) for Digital Agriculture[14] (in partnership with FAO), concluded focus groups on AI and Environmental Efficiency,[15] Machine Learning and 5G.[16]

Currently, with a community of over 37,000 active contributors from more than 180 countries, AI for Good is executing a program on AI, guided by Resolution 214[17] of the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, and amplified by the new Resolution A/78/L.49 of the UN General Assembly.[18] The recent adoption of Resolution COM4/AI at WTSA-24[19] further emphasizes ITU’s mandate and AI for Good’s role in establishing trusted AI.

AI for Good continues to host the annual Global Summit[20] in Geneva, along with regional impact events across the globe, engaging youth through Robotics for Good Youth Challenges worldwide, Innovation Factory and Machine Learning (ML) Hackathons, Governance Day and International AI Standards Summit.

Global Summit 2024

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The 2024 AI for Good Global Summit was held in Geneva on May 30 – 31. The event was attended by leaders from governments, industries, and academia, alongside 10,000 online participants. Highlights included the launch of a unified framework for AI standards by ITU, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), addressing issues like AI watermarking and deepfake detection, and a compilation of over 400 UN-led AI projects tackling all 17 SDGs. The Summit also introduced the AI for Good Impact Initiative, aiming to scale AI solutions globally and foster regional engagement through competitions, accelerators, and policy guidance. Demonstrations showcased innovations, including generative AI and mind-controlled robotic prosthetics.

Global Summit 2023

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The 2023 AI for Good Global Summit took place on 6 – 7 July in Geneva. The event brought together participants, including government officials, policymakers, industry leaders, academics, scientists, technology innovators, civil society members, and representatives from the UN community. The summit received some publicity due to the large gathering of humanoid robots that occurred, including Ai-Da, Nadine Social Robot, Geminoid, and Sophia.[21]

Neural Network

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In 2020 the Global Summit was an online-only event. In 2022, the summit moved to the "Neural Network" community platform.[22] Speakers included:[23]

Global Summit 2019

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The third AI for Good Global Summit took place from 28 May to 31 May, and gave rise to the ITU Focus Group on Artificial Intelligence for Autonomous and Assisted Driving with several Day 0 workshops and VIP events having taken place on May 27.[24] Some of the speakers included:

Global Summit 2018

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World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom (right) and ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao (center)

The second AI for Good Global Summit took place from 15 to 17 May 2018 at the ITU headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland and generated 35 AI project proposals.[25][26][27] Speakers included:[28]

Global Summit 2017

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Fei-Fei Li speaking at AI for Good 2017

The first AI for Good Global summit took place from 7 to 9 June 2017. Speakers at the event included:[29] [30]

One of the outcomes of the 2017 Global Summit was the creation of an ITU-T Focus Group on Machine Learning for 5G.[citation needed]

Outcomes

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Machine Learning 5G

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The ITU-T Focus Group on Machine Learning for 5G Networks (FG-ML5G) was created following discussions at the 2017 AI for Good Global Summit. The FG-ML5G is produced several technology standards in this domain, including Y.3172, Y.3173, Y.3176, which were adopted by ITU-T Study Group 13. The FG-ML5G created the impetus for a new ITU-T Focus Group on Autonomous Networks, which is responsible for i.a. Y.3181.[citation needed]

AI for Health

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The 2018 Global Summit led to the creation of the ITU-WHO Focus Group on Artificial Intelligence for Health with the World Health Organization, which created the AI for Health Framework.[31]

Trustworthy AI

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Together with ITU-T Study Group 16 and 17, AI for Good has been developing technology specifications under Trustworthy AI. Including items on homomorphic encryption, secure multi-party computation, and federated learning.

ITU Journal "ICT Discoveries"

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The ITU relaunched its Journal ICT Discoveries during the 2018 Global Summit, with the first edition being a special on Artificial Intelligence.[32]

Criticism

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Payal Arora criticized AI for Good for its paternalism towards the Global South.[33]

References

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  1. ^ "About Us". AI for Good. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
  2. ^ "AI for Good Global Summit 2017". ITU. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  3. ^ "About Us". AI for Good. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
  4. ^ "Neural Network". AI for Good. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  5. ^ "AI and Data Commons". ITU. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
  6. ^ "Global Initiative on AI for Health". WHO. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
  7. ^ "AI for Resilience". ITU. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
  8. ^ "AI for Natural Disaster Management (AI4NDM)". ITU. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
  9. ^ "AI for Good: Multimedia Authenticity". AI for Good. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
  10. ^ "World Standards Cooperation (WSC)". World Standards Cooperation. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
  11. ^ "AI for Road Safety". AI for Good. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
  12. ^ "AI/ML Pre-Standardization". AI for Good. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
  13. ^ "Focus Group on Autonomous Networks (AINN)". ITU. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
  14. ^ "Focus Group on AI for Autonomous and Assisted Driving (AI4AD)". ITU. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
  15. ^ "Focus Group on Environmental Efficiency for AI and other Emerging Technologies (AI4EE)". ITU. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
  16. ^ "Focus Group on Machine Learning for Future Networks including 5G (ML5G)". ITU. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
  17. ^ "ITU Resolution 214: Adoption and implementation of international standards on AI" (PDF). ITU. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
  18. ^ "United Nations Document N2406592" (PDF). United Nations. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
  19. ^ "Draft World Telecommunication/ICT Standards Assembly (WTSA) 2024 Document" (PDF). ITU. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
  20. ^ "Summit 25". AI for Good. Retrieved 2024-11-22.
  21. ^ Devlin, Hannah (6 July 2023). "Never underestimate a droid: robots gather at AI for Good summit in Geneva". The Guardian. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
  22. ^ "Press Release - Artificial intelligence turbo-charges AI for Good". ITU. Archived from the original on 2022-02-16. Retrieved 2022-02-16.
  23. ^ "2020 Digital Programme". AI for Good Global Summit 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-11-01. Retrieved 2020-08-07.
  24. ^ "Day 1, 28 May 2019 Programme". AI for Good Global Summit. Archived from the original on 2019-11-05. Retrieved 2019-05-28.
  25. ^ "ITU annual global summit generates 35 pioneering AI for Good proposals | OpenGovAsia". www.opengovasia.com. Retrieved 2018-06-29.
  26. ^ "An AI can now tell how malnourished a child is just from a photo | New Scientist". www.newscientist.com. Retrieved 2018-06-29.
  27. ^ ITU (2018-10-02). "Artificial Intelligence for Health: ITU and WHO call for proposals". ITU News. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
  28. ^ "Meet the Experts". www.itu.int. Archived from the original on 2018-12-14. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  29. ^ "AI for Good Global Summit – Speakers". ITU. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  30. ^ ITU. AI for Good Global Summit 2017 Report. ITU (Report). Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  31. ^ Bradley, Simon. "AI has 'enormous' potential to transform health sector". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2018-06-29.
  32. ^ "The impact of Artificial Intelligence". www.itu.int. Archived from the original on 2019-05-24. Retrieved 2018-07-03.
  33. ^ Arora, Payal (2024-09-05). "When "AI for Good" Goes Wrong - What tech philanthropy must learn to combat the Global South's problems with AI". IEEE Spectrum. Retrieved 2024-09-14.
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