How can the UN ensure the impartiality of its AI platform?

As the UN celebrates its 79th birthday on October 24, it faces many familiar and new challenges. From not having enough funding to political disagreements in the Security Council, these problems have always tested the organisation. Now, artificial intelligence (AI) brings new risks—threatening the UN’s core principle of fairness and potentially affecting how it operates.

The UN’s technological evolution has always balanced innovation with safeguarding its principles. From cloud computing in the 2010s to online meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic, each leap brought new questions of security and control. Unlike past innovations, AI is not just a passive tool; it can shape policy outcomes. This makes the transparency and impartiality of the UN more critical than ever.

The challenge: How to ensure UN’s impartiality

Impartiality is what lends legitimacy to the UN, ensuring that decisions are based on facts and diverse perspectives. As the UN explores AI for reporting, drafting, and analysis, it faces a crucial question: How can it ensure the impartiality of its AI platform?

Proprietary AI systems risk embedding biases that reflect the values of their creators, potentially skewing how the UN Secretariat approaches global issues. This is a fundamental threat to the fairness and objectivity that the UN must uphold.

The solution: Open-source AI

To counter this, the UN must adopt an open-source AI approach—one that is transparent, inclusive, and collaboratively developed by countries, companies, and citizens. By building an open-source AI platform, the UN can ensure that the technology aligns with its core values of impartiality, inclusivity, and transparency, drawing on global expertise through rigorous evaluation.

AI@UN systems must be explainable and traceable, ensuring that data and algorithms are accessible and understandable. The “weights” assigned to data and information should reflect core UN values, avoiding biases that could favour one country over another.

AI@UN: a paradigm for AI as a public good

This moment presents both a challenge and an opportunity. By committing to an open, transparent, and inclusive AI framework, the UN can transform a potential risk into a landmark opportunity for global governance. This isn’t just about adopting new technology—it’s about reaffirming the UN’s capacity to evolve, lead, and remain relevant in a changing world.

By building AI@UN, the organisation can set a global standard for AI governance—prioritising human rights, inclusivity, and the public good over commercial interests. AI@UN represents a chance to address these challenges and lead by example, developing AI that truly serves the public good.

New opportunities to get back to the core mission

AI holds immense promise for the UN. By freeing diplomats and UN officials from repetitive paperwork, the organisation can focus more on its core mission: negotiating peace and promoting the global public good. AI can, in particular, empower small and developing countries by levelling the diplomatic playing field, allowing them to engage more effectively in multilateral processes.

Next steps

The UN and its member states should embrace the development of a transparent, open-source AI@UN platform. By doing so, the UN can ‘walk the talk’ of Agenda 2030 and the Pact for the Future. It can transform AI’s risks into opportunities for greater inclusivity, impartiality, and effectiveness, reinforcing the UN’s role as a beacon of hope and leadership on the global stage.

Happy birthday to the UN and to everyone who believes in organisation’s critical role for the future of humanity!