Global AI Governance: Empowering Civil Society

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Racine Avocats

40 rue de Courcelles

Paris , FR 75008

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Date: Tuesday, February 11th, 2025

Time: 9.00 am to 12.00 pm CET

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit will take place in Paris on 10th and 11th February 2025. It will gather Heads of State and Government, leaders of international organisations, CEOs of small and large companies, representatives of academia, non-governmental organisations, artists and members of civil society. On this occasion, Renaissance Numérique, The Future Society, Wikimedia France, the Avaaz Foundation, Connected by Data and the European Center for Non-for-Profit Law are glad to invite you to their civil society side-event.

Background & Context

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit will take place in Paris on 10th and 11th February 2025. It will gather Heads of State and Government, leaders of international organisations, CEOs of small and large companies, representatives of academia, non-governmental organisations, artists and members of civil society. The event follows two previous  summits: one at Bletchley Park (UK) in 2023,  focusing mainly on AI safety issues, and another in Seoul in 2025, expanding the agenda to a larger range of issues including safety, innovation and inclusivity.

In the run up to this third global AI summit, its organisers have further expanded the scope to a wider range of topics, centered around the five following areas and each led by a “thematic envoy”: public interest AI; future of work; innovation and culture; trust in AI; and global AI governance.

Across the five themes, they have committed to making the event “as inclusive as possible”, including the participation of civil society. As a critical step toward this direction, some civil society organisations have been invited to take part in the core discussions.

Additionally, a number of side-events are being organised during the same week of the summit to allow for further discussion on pressing AI governance issues and enhanced participation. To this end, a coalition of civil society organisations – Renaissance Numérique, Wikimedia France, Connected by Data, Avaaz, The Future Society, and the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law – are organising a dedicated side event on the  importance of actively engaging civil society in the global AI governance discourse. It will complement and build on two key initiatives:

  • In 2024, Renaissance Numérique launched a research project dedicated to the global governance of AI: the AI Dialogues. As a result of three high level dialogues organised in Geneva, Brussels and Paris between April and October 2024, the think tank will publish a final report ahead of the Summit. Building on the contributions of 60+ experts, it will address the obstacles to civil society participation in the global governance of AI and propose actions to overcome these challenges and reinforce the role of civil society in this governance. Key insights from the report will be integrated in the side-event.
  • In November 2024, the AI Summit Consultation was launched to gather global input on the agenda and deliverables of the AI Action Summit. It gathered submissions from over 11,000 citizens and expert organisations, and revealed clear demands: the need for stronger multi stakeholder governance, the rejection of uncontrolled AI development, clear standards for auditable and fair AI, and the importance of focusing on concrete problems where AI has proven value, rejecting techno-solutionism. This consultation marks the first time a global AI Summit’s preparation has included such extensive stakeholder engagement, setting a new standard for inclusive policy development in technological governance. This side-event represents an opportunity to frame the demands of civil society within the achievements of the Summit.

Aim

This side-event aims to discuss and shed light on the critical role of civil society organisations in AI global dialogues, and identify concrete steps to strengthen the voice of civil society for the global governance of AI. Civil society is essential in advocating for robust AI policies that address a spectrum of concerns and risks, while prioritising global wellbeing. They are key for holding AI actors accountable to those policies. And, lastly, they are crucial in democratising AI governance by ensuring that the voices of marginalised and disproportionately impacted communities are not only heard but also meaningfully represented.

Speakers and participants will be invited to share their views on these issues, as well as react to the developments from DAY 1 of the Summit.

The discussions should lead to:

  • the identification of the current challenges civil society faces when trying to take part in global AI governance efforts, like the Paris AI Action Summit;
  • a wish list for future AI Summits, as well as other global AI governance platforms, composed of concrete ways to engage civil society more efficiently and more meaningfully in global AI governance efforts.

CDT Feature Speaker:

  • Laura Lázaro Cabrera, Counsel and Programme Director, Equity and Data, Centre for Democracy & Technology, Europe

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