President Yoon Suk Yeol on May 21 chairs the leaders' session of the AI (Artificial Intelligence) Seoul Summit held in videoconference format at the state guesthouse Yeongbingwan of the former presidential compound of Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul. (Kang Min Seok from Office of the President)

By Yoon Sojung

President Yoon Suk Yeol on May 21 co-chaired the AI Seoul Summit via videoconferencing with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and adopted the Seoul Declaration to stress the safety, innovation and inclusivity of artificial intelligence (AI).

Proposing the three principle values of AI, President Yoon said, "The Republic of Korea will push forward with the establishment of an AI safety research center in Korea and join a network to boost the global safety of AI." 

The summit's leaders' session saw attending heads of state adopt the declaration and its annex Seoul Statement of Intent toward International Cooperation on AI Safety Science.

In a speech to open the summit, President Yoon said, "I'm very pleased to host the AI Seoul Summit, which will expand the scope of discussion to innovation and inclusivity, after the inaugural summit at Bletchley Park of the U.K. in November last year discussed AI safety."

"The AI Summit will offer an opportunity to consolidate our efforts and promote AI standards and governance at the global level," he added. "We must secure AI safety by minimizing any negative effects AI might have and prevent damage to democracy."

"I welcome the efforts of key countries such as the U.K. and U.S. to launch AI safety think tanks," the president said. "This kind of AI innovation will provide new growth momentum for the global economy and greatly assist the resolution of global challenges like environmental pollution."

"It's also important to secure AI's inclusivity so that everyone regardless of residence or income can benefit from AI."

Attending the session were leaders from Group of Seven member countries like U.S. Vice President Kamala Devi Harris, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as well as Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. Also there were European Commission Vice President Vera Jourovaj and the heads of other international organizations such as the United Nations and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 

From the corporate side were the CEOs of tech giants such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, OpenAI, Samsung Electronics and Korean web portal Naver. 

The declaration said the participating world leaders "affirm our common dedication to fostering international cooperation and dialogue on artificial intelligence (Al) in the face of its unprecedented advancements and the impact on our economies and societies."

The declaration said, "We support existing and ongoing efforts of the participants to this Declaration to create or expand Al safety institutes, research programmes and/or other relevant institutions including supervisory bodies, and we strive to promote cooperation on safety research and to share best practices by nurturing networks between these organizations," it added.

"Acknowledging the value of Al Summit dialogues as a high-level forum to advance discussion on Al governance which facilitates Al safety, innovation and inclusivity, we look forward to our third gathering at the upcoming AI Action Summit to be held in France."

The schedule or the summit's second and final day on May 22 had a global forum followed by a ministerial session with China's expected participation.

arete@korea.kr