Artificial Intelligence Demystified

Artificial Intelligence Demystified

The United Nations Secretary General’s Strategy on New Technologies recognizes the importance of artificial intelligence (AI) and its promise for the advancement of human welfare, but also the potential risks it may pose for global society. “AI and robotics promise enhanced economic growth, but they can also exacerbate inequality within and between nations and can contribute to unemployment. Neural networks and deep learning offer the promise of instantaneous translation, bringing us all closer together. But they may also learn and amplify our biases, driving us further apart.”
Theoretical and practical applications in the field of artificial intelligence accompany a series of concepts, approaches and tools from diverse fields - mathematics, statistics, information theory, data science, biology and cognitive psychology - to create new ways to analyze and understand the data and its hidden qualities and to unlock its potential value to automate and improve business processes and decision-making.
This text aims to provide an overview of the evolution and current state of artificial intelligence, to explain some of the main principles, potential applications and interactions with other advanced technologies, and to demystify the “artificial intelligence” term using down to earth examples. The intention is to lay a foundation for future discussions, projects and collaborations among trade facilitation experts and practitioners, and to support other United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) work items, specifically development of guidance material and, regional and global regulatory documents.
Document ECE/TRADE/C/CEFACT/2021/19 is submitted by the Chair of the Advisory Group on Advanced Technologies in Trade and Logistics to the twenty-seventh session of the Plenary for information.