Belgrade Ministerial Declaration in field of artificial intelligence adopted

The Belgrade Ministerial Declaration in the field of artificial intelligence was officially adopted with the consent of 44 member states of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence and the European Union, the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation announced today.

The adoption of the declaration, as said in the announcement, is an indication that the members of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence are making progress in implementing an integrated partnership by embracing artificial intelligence technologies as catalysts for economic and social development, while reducing the risks and ensuring that they benefit both the people and the planet.

On this occasion, the Minister of Science, Technological Development and Innovation, Dr. Jelena Begovic, said that the adoption of the Belgrade Declaration was a great diplomatic success of the Republic of Serbia.

- After the Summit of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence, 44 countries have now adopted the Declaration that our country proposed at the time, and that is a great success. The importance of this declaration is reflected in the fact that it insists on the mechanisms by which artificial intelligence will be legally and ethically regulated in the future. That is why it is a success that a large number of countries of the world are included in this process, because that way the agreement has gravitas and value - said the minister.

She added that one of the focuses of the Declaration was to reduce the difference between the degrees of the technological development of the countries.

- We must not forget that not all countries are at the same level of technological development. One of our main goals is to reduce the gap between technologically less developed and more developed countries, so that we can all move into the technological future together at the same speed. In order to achieve all that, the Declaration ensures a more active involvement of science in all processes – pointed out Dr. Begovic.

The Belgrade Summit of the Global Partnership for Artificial Intelligence, held on December 3-4, 2024, gathered all the ministers of the member states, marking the official start of the co-presidency of Serbia and Slovakia of this international organization. The summit was attended by over 1,500 people from all over the world, and Belgrade hosted 148 delegates from over 45 countries and international organizations and more than 500 experts from around the world. At the Summit, the adoption of the Belgrade Declaration was announced, which then received the full support of the member countries.

- Key priorities for the future of artificial intelligence are highlighted as the foundations of the Belgrade Declaration, including the reaffirmation of the values and principles of preserving individual freedoms, democratic values, the rule of law and human rights as a basis for the development and application of artificial intelligence, the improvement of global cooperation through support for an integrated partnership with the OECD in order to create a sustainable and reliable AI ecosystem, recognizing digital differences between developed and emerging countries with a focus on reducing these differences and promoting equal opportunities for all, promoting safe and sustainable artificial intelligence, working to solve global challenges including employment, data management, privacy protection, sustainable agriculture, biotechnology and environmental impact – the ministry says in the announcement.

The ministers of the countries participating in the Summit and international organizations called on governments, organizations, the academic community, the corporate sector and the civil society to support these goals and work together on the development of human-oriented artificial intelligence, but with basic ethical postulates. The declaration also emphasizes the importance of public sharing of information and results of the work of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence, so that all nations can benefit from the achievements in said field. The Declaration also announced the holding of the AI Action Summit in Paris, on February 10-11, 2025, as well as the next Summit of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence, which will be held in Bratislava.