OVERVIEW

Parent Sector : Social and Human Sciences Sector (SHS)

Duty Station: Paris

Job Family: Social and Human Sciences

Type of contract : [[Contract Type]]

Duration of contract : From 1 to 6 months

Recruitment open to : External candidates

Application Deadline (Midnight Paris Time) : 23-09-2024

UNESCO Core Values: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism

OVERVIEW OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE POST

Supporting the Implementation of UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Ethics of AI through the engagement in global AI initiatives

In November 2021, 193 Member States of UNESCO adopted the Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (“the Recommendation”). This global standard aims to leverage the positive impacts of AI while addressing its inherent risks. Countries around the world are now in the process of implementing the Recommendation, mainly through the Readiness Assessment Methodology and the Ethical Impact Assessment, capacity building tools that UNESCO developed to measure the state-of-art related to AI in each country and tailor its support. To date, more than 60 countries have embarked on this process. In parallel, UNESCO is generating knowledge products that document the latest regulatory and policy developments on AI. Those efforts are funded through partnerships with multiple donors, including the Government of Japan, the European Commission, and the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation.

At the global level, UNESCO is engaging with the major platforms and initiatives on AI governance, to enrich them with its experience on AI governance and knowledge gained from the multifaceted action on the implementation of the Recommendation.

Among such global initiatives are the AI Safety summits launched by the UK government in November 2023. The UK AI Safety Summit (Bletchley Park, 1-2 November 2023), was followed by the AI Seoul Summit (21 and 22 May 2024), and the preparations are underway for the AI Action Summit to be hosted by the Government of France in February 2024. Other important forums include G20 (Digital Economy Track), G7 (Hiroshima Process), and GPAI.

SCOPE OF WORK

UNESCO is seeking a consultant who will work with the Ethics of AI team to ensure coordination of input and participation in major international events, initiatives and for a on AI ethics and governance, with the special angle of the implementation of the Recommendation on the Ethics of AI.

Under the authority of the Assistant Director-General for the Social and Human Science, and the direct supervision of the Head of the AI Ethics Unit, the selected consultant will contribute to UNESCO’s efforts to ensure cohesion on the international front with regards to AI ethics and governance.

Specific Tasks

The selected consultant will be in charge of the following tasks: ‎

• Engaging substantively as part of the Ethics of AI team in regular efforts to link its work with high-level processes related to ethics and governance of AI (including apropos of upcoming AI Safety/Action Summits, G20 and G7 platforms, GPAI, and others);
• Coordinating actions to ensure effective engagement of Ethics of AI team and associated experts in the relevant workstreams of these global initiatives;
• Contributing to ongoing research and analysis conducted by the secretariat on AI governance and ethics;
• Participating in meetings and events related to the summits and liaising internally and externally to position UNESCO in these meetings as well as networking;
• Presenting UNESCO’s work to different stakeholders;
• Supporting the secretariat with the preparation of different materials such as speeches, presentations, blogs, white papers, etc.
• Strengthen the link with different projects on AI that are currently in progress in the section, enhance coordination and help substantively to link the outputs of the projects.

COMPETENCIES (Core / Managerial)

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REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education
• Advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) in the governance of artificial intelligence, ethical and social ‎implications of artificial intelligence or digital technologies, law and technology, computer science, data science, ‎computational social science, or other related fields. ‎

Work Experience
• Professional experience on the ethical, legal, social and governance issues of artificial ‎intelligence and related digital technologies, at the national and/or international level;‎
• Proven experience in coordinating and organizing major events related to AI governance, and ‎other digital technologies;‎
• Proven experience in conducting research and analysis and/or implementing ‎programmes/projects on the ethical, legal, social and governance issues of artificial ‎intelligence and related digital technologies

Skills/Competencies

• Very good understanding of the ethical, legal, social and governance issues of artificial intelligence and related digital technologies
• Experiences in undertaking policy review and assessments both qualitatively and quantitatively on topics related to governance of AI or related digital technologies
• Proven ability to draft clearly and concisely and to produce high quality policy-oriented analysis and synthesis documents
• Experience in taking part in the organization of global events on AI governance

Languages

Excellent knowledge of English and French