Vision Statement (Draft 30-1-26) by Pierre Genevier Candidate for the post of UN Secretary General Putting AI and the Internet at the Heart of UN Action The Internet has transformed how many of us work, communicate, and even live. It has enabled unimaginable progress in many fields over the last 30 years. However, many countries and individuals have not fully benefited from this incredible technology. Furthermore, the Internet has not been sufficiently used specifically for the purpose of solving our global problems, such as eradicating poverty, global warming, the degradation of our environment, increasing inequalities, the multiplication and worsening of conflicts worldwide, systematic violations of fundamental rights, terrorism, and organized and transnational crime, among others. Today, countries are in the process of developing super-intelligences that will have even more significant consequences on our ways of living and working than those experienced with the Internet. This will concern, at least initially, those who have access to the network (Internet) and to data centers equipped with processors dedicated to AI. It is therefore crucial that the UN does not waste a second: (1) to fully benefit from this new technology (AI) to solve the many complex problems it faces, and (2) to catch up on the delay accumulated in the field of using the Internet to solve our global problems. Of course, the UN has excuses; using the Internet more effectively and reducing the digital divide to solve our global problems is very expensive, and the UN, with its small budget, did not have the means to act more effectively to let poor and less poor countries benefit from the Internet, nor to put in place global strategies in this area. Today, if the UN does not solve the problem of the lack of financial resources to better use the Internet and AI and reduce the digital divide, it — along with billions of people — will once again miss out on the many benefits that AI and the Internet can bring. I am therefore not only proposing a strategy to better use AI and the Internet in the areas of maintaining international peace and security, development, human rights, environmental protection, and the fight against global warming, as well as many other areas. I am also proposing a strategy to generate the necessary income, without appealing to Member States (whether rich or poor), to help the UN do its work more effectively for the good of all. 1. Governance of the Internet and AI, development of global Internet applications, and management of data centers: new vital tasks for advancing the UN. The creation of a new international organization dedicated to the governance of the Internet and AI, the development and maintenance of global Internet applications, and the management of UN data centers (among other tasks, proposals 1 and 2 of the platform) will play a central and vital role within the UN system and for the whole world for several reasons. First, this new organization will allow the UN to ensure the governance of the Internet and to develop a new domain name pricing system that will generate new and sufficient revenue. This revenue will (1) help the UN fulfill its various missions by supporting the work not only of the UN Secretariat but also of the entities, organizations, programs, funds, and specialized agencies part of the UN system; (2) allow for significant improvements in the functioning and security of the Internet; and (3) provide Internet users, especially domain name owners, with significant benefits in relation to their annual contribution. Of course, the new IO will also provide vital help to UN member countries (whether rich or poor). Next, responsibility for the governance of artificial intelligence (AI) and the management of UN data centers worldwide will allow the Organization to acquire (1) AI expertise equivalent to that of the leaders in the field (Google, OpenAI, etc.), and (2) the necessary resources (a) to improve the functioning and security of the Internet, (b) to develop global applications designed to solve specific problems, (c) to let all countries and inhabitants of the planet benefit from the advantages of AI and the Internet, and (d) to better control risks related to (i) the development of super-intelligences, (ii) the use of AI by cybercriminals, and, in cooperation with the new agency for AI governance in the military field, (iii) the development of armaments using AI. Finally, responsibility for developing global (Internet) applications to help countries solve specific problems will allow the UN (1) to help States set up, among others, more efficient justice systems that are more respectful of the fundamental rights of the parties (notably legal aid systems that defend the rights of the most disadvantaged effectively before all jurisdictions, and not only in the context of criminal defense), as well as a global pension management system that will help increase life expectancy, decrease disparities in life expectancy between different socio-professional categories, and eradicate the deadliest diseases (see propositions 3 and 4 of the platform); and (2) to support its actions and those of other entities of the UN system. 2. Strengthening the UN's capacities in the areas of peacekeeping and disarmament is crucial to allow it to help countries more effectively. The more than 50 ongoing conflicts in the world, including the war in Ukraine which divides (or, I hope soon, has divided) the UN Security Council, are clear proof that the UN's peacekeeping capacities must be strengthened. Furthermore, the fact that NATO, which encourages its member countries to increase their defense budgets, has become more a cause of war than a tool for maintaining peace in Europe and the world, also supports (1) the strengthening of the UN in the field of peacekeeping and (2) the creation of a new agency (similar to the IAEA and OPCW) for peacekeeping, disarmament, the modernization of armies, and the governance of AI in the military field (as imagined by the UN report, Governing AI for Humanity, at no. 53 ‘New and existing institutions could be nodes within a network of governance structures’). Also, the rapid progress made in the field of AI and the possibilities they generate for developing ever more dangerous armaments require the establishment of (1) greater transparency in the military field, (2) increased surveillance of armament producers at the global level, (3) new legislation to, among other things, prevent the use of AI to develop armaments that are not in everyone's interest, and (4) new tools and mechanisms to monitor compliance with new legislation. The UN Office for Disarmament Affairs already collects important information like the defense budgets of certain states, but it is still too little to have more significant results in the field of disarmament. Finally, Article 26 of the Charter encourages countries to use the minimum of the world's human and economic resources for the development of armaments, but this is difficult to implement with only the assistance of the Military Staff Committee provided for in Article 47; consequently, it has never been truly done. The creation of a new agency for peacekeeping, disarmament, modernization of armies, and the governance of AI in the military field will give the UN Secretariat and the Security Council more means to implement the actions that will help Member States comply with Article 26, and to use the minimum of the planet's resources to develop armaments as also (implicitly) intended by the GRO 2024. Seeking an alternative to market capitalism is also indispensable for maintaining peace (see proposals 5 and 6 of the platform), as well as for achieving significant and rapid progress in the areas of development and respect for human rights. 3. Development, the SDGs, environmental protection, the fight against global warming, and ‘sustainable convergence’. To make significant progress in the field of development and to reach the SDGs, it is vital (a) to reduce the digital divide, (b) to let all countries benefit from the advantages that the Internet and AI already bring to rich countries, (c) to end wars in the world, and (d) to implement an economic system that does not create such large inequalities and that helps us fight global warming, protect our environment, and achieve the transformation towards sustainable global consumption and production of resources described in the GRO 2024. This is why measures must be taken and action must be taken simultaneously in the 3 main areas of UN action. The creation of the two new international organizations presented above should therefore have a significant impact on development and the realization of the SDGs. Developing global (Internet) computer systems in rich countries that can be used by all has many advantages: it allows, among other things, all countries to decrease their public spending because rich countries fulfill their ODA by transferring knowledge and computer systems to poor countries while improving the efficiency of their own systems (justice, administration, etc.) at a lower cost, while poor countries benefit from the latest technologies and advanced knowledge to support their development (a ‘win-win’ situation). Finally, over the last 30 years, we have put in place the MDGs and SDGs, but if you choose to realize the platform I defend here, from 2030, we should no longer talk about sustainable development goals, but about ‘sustainable convergence’ goals; and we should reflect together on the actions to be taken to implement administrative systems similar to those proposed here (for example, putting in place high-performance justice systems based on the use of super-intelligences to help judges and clerks process cases of all types, and not only legal aid requests). 4. Human rights and the development of a new legal aid system for all countries. Justice — and in particular justice for the poor, who cannot afford a lawyer and court fees — is very expensive. It is not the only cause of human rights violations in the world, of course, but it is one of the major factors in the inefficiency of justice systems in many countries, and it is the main cause of a large number of human rights violations; therefore, if we make a special effort to decrease the cost of running justice systems worldwide and improve their efficiency (through the use of advanced global computer systems based on AI), we should make significant progress in the area of respect for human rights. Helping and encouraging countries to respect human rights is an essential function of the UN, just as complex as maintaining international peace and security or achieving convergence. But we now have the technologies and knowledge, and we can generate the necessary income to build the infrastructures, that allow us to develop advanced, AI-based global systems (1) to improve the functioning of justice systems in rich and poor countries, and (2) to make significant progress in the area of respect for human rights worldwide. We must therefore not waste a second and act to improve the functioning of justice systems, starting with legal aid systems. However, by becoming dependent on AI in the field of justice, we run the risk of it being biased. It is therefore necessary for an independent body to have the skills and means to analyze and correct these problems. That is why I believe it is important for the OHCHR (with the help and expertise of (a) the new international organization for the governance of AI and the Internet … and (b) member states) to play a central role in helping countries use AI for justice as recommended by proposition 3 of the platform, and to be in charge of AI governance in the field of justice. 5. UN Management. The UN80 initiative is relevant and launched at an opportune time; the UN must be made more efficient, but as seen above, it is also necessary (1) to generate additional revenue without further soliciting Member States, (2) to build infrastructures (data centers, new IOs), and (3) to acquire new skills and expertise (AI, etc.) to support the work of all entities of the UN system. The new international organization for the governance of the Internet and AI (etc.) will allow this; it will also help finance some of the new functions that will be assigned to certain existing UN entities (OHCHR, WHO) and the new entity in the military field (such as AI governance in the specific areas of justice, health, and the military). The OHCHR has many experts in the field of human rights and justice, but it will need to acquire new skills in the field of AI to be able to ensure (a) AI governance in the field of justice and (b) the coordination of the development of the new legal aid system usable by all countries, although it will of course be supported in these tasks by the new organization for the governance of the Internet and AI. The acquisition of these new skills will have a significant cost to its budget and therefore to the UN budget, a cost that should be primarily covered by the new organization for the governance of the Internet and AI. Similarly, the development of a new pension management system (if you also support this proposal) and AI governance in the field of health will force the WHO to acquire new skills in the field of AI and to increase its budget; here again, the new organization for the governance of the Internet and AI should significantly participate in the financial effort imposed on the WHO (among others). The creation of a new agency for peacekeeping, disarmament, modernization of armies, and the governance of AI in the military field will also be partly financed by the new organization for the governance of the Internet and AI (…) since it will assume responsibility for AI governance in the military field. But, as seen above, it will also support the work of the UN Security Council, the UN Secretariat (ODA, DPO), and the UN Secretary-General; Member States will therefore have to participate in the financing. Personally, I think (1) that this new agency, which will encourage cooperation in the military field as NATO does for a limited number of countries, should lead to the dismantling of NATO, and (2) that the funds used to finance NATO should be reassigned to the financing of this new agency for peacekeeping. This new agency for peacekeeping (…) could have a structure similar to those of the IAEA and OPCW, with a Director General appointed by the UN Secretary-General and confirmed by the permanent representatives of countries at the UN, who would also be members of the "General Conference" of this agency; and the "Board of Governors" (or "expanded Military Staff Committee") could be composed of experts in the military field, in the use of AI in the military field, and in armament production (or in the field of the defense industry), designated by countries, and also members of the permanent missions of countries to the UN in New York. UNIDIR, OPCW, and the CTBTO, which contribute essentially to the UN's work on disarmament, could eventually be integrated into this new agency. The creation of this new agency could be an important step to facilitate the reform of the UN Security Council, as it will allow all Member States to work together (and cooperate) on many subjects related to peacekeeping and disarmament, and to participate more actively in important decisions on subjects such as (a) the negotiation of nuclear disarmament treaties between the USA and Russia, which concerns all countries, even those that do not have nuclear weapons, and (b) the control of the use of AI in the field of armaments.