'Putting humans at centre of our decisions an urgent task'

NEW DELHI: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Thursday said his country advocates governance which ensures that artificial intelligence (AI) strengthens democracy, social cohesion and sovereignty of nations.

In his address at the Leaders' Plenary Session at the AI Impact Summit here, he also asserted that putting human beings at the "centre of our decisions is an urgent task".

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the summit and unveiled the 'MANAV' vision for a human-centric approach and use of AI with a strong accent on sovereignty and inclusivity.

The inaugural ceremony saw the presence of several heads of state, including President Lula, French President Emmanuel Macron, many global AI leaders, academicians and researchers, heads of many tech giants and philanthropists, among others.

At the Leaders' Plenary Session, the Brazilian president delivered an address in Portuguese.

He also posted excerpts from his speech in a series of posts in Portuguese on X along with photos of his meeting with many political and tech leaders.

"For Brazil, it is a pleasure to participate in the Artificial Intelligence Impact Summit organised by the Indian government, this being the first time it has been held in the Global South," Lula said.

Here in Delhi, the digital world "returns to its homeland". It was Indian mathematicians who bequeathed to the world, thousands of years ago, the binary system that would come to structure modern computing, he said.

"We are making our way back to discuss one of the greatest dilemmas of our time," the Brazilian leader underlined.

In his address, Lula underscored that putting the human being at the "centre of our decisions is an urgent task".

The Brazilian National Congress is discussing a policy and a regulatory framework for AI, he said, adding Brazil has launched the Brazilian Artificial Intelligence Plan.

This plan expresses "our commitment to improving people's quality of life through more agile public services and greater stimulus to job and income generation", he said.

The Brazilian Artificial Intelligence Plan (2024-2028) is a strategic initiative designed to develop Brazil's AI capabilities.

Lula further said this was the paradigm of the declaration on AI that was approved at the BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro last year. This is the stance that Brazil adopts in dialogue with other partners and forums, he said.

He said "we are in dialogue" with the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence, which originated within the G7.

But none of these forums replaces the universality of the United Nations for international governance of artificial intelligence, which is "multilateral, inclusive, and development-oriented", he said.

The UN General Assembly has established the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence, following intergovernmental negotiations and broad consultations with diverse stakeholders.

Lula said the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI is the first global scientific body on the subject and called for governance that upholds democracy and sovereignty. On a February 18–22 state visit, he will hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister

Modi on February 21.