Spain has taken the initiative to launch an international alliance of countries aimed at strengthening the protection of minors amidst the expansion of artificial intelligence (AI), as communicated by the Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Function, Óscar López.
The head of the digital area made this announcement during the inaugural session of the United Nations Global Dialogue on AI Governance, which is taking place this Monday and Tuesday in Geneva and brings together 4,200 participants from around the world.
"Spain brings a concrete proposal to protect minors in the use of AI, and we hope to gain support among countries for this initiative to move forward. This is not the first time we have done this. Spain led the EU's ban on sexual deepfakes in AI. And we want to pave the way internationally, with the United Nations, to protect minors," the minister told the media.
According to information from the Ministry, this future coalition would be structured under the auspices of the United Nations with the aim that participating states "agree on common denominators to ensure that AI respects the rights, safety, and development of minors." Spain, the department specified, already has the support of France, the EU, and Kenya in the efforts to launch this alliance.
"We are at a critical moment in history where we can move forward or backward. Absolute deregulation is not a path. Mistakes were made in the past, for example, with social networks. We cannot be late with AI," Óscar López warned.
In his speech to the plenary, López stressed that "the multiple benefits of AI will be crushed by its risks if we do not govern it immediately. AI must be a majority right and not an exclusive weapon." Therefore, he demanded from Geneva "political will" to "transform evidence into action."
The minister also emphasized that "we are not content with regulating AI to be ethical and trustworthy; we also produce it to be competitive and sovereign. Spain listens to science, promotes innovation, and defends a Global Dialogue that seeks to combine AI and digital rights. We are talking about defending Human Rights against technofascism."