AI for Good Global Summit 2024 Puts Tech to the Test for People and Planet

G​​​lobal leaders and innovators in artificial intelligence (AI) will join the humanitarian community at the AI for Good Global Summit 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland on May 30-31 to explore how new technology can drive sustainable development.

This year's edition of the AI for Good summit event will showcase innovations in generative AI, robotics,​ and brain-machine interfaces that can accelerate progress in areas such as climate action, accessibility, health, and disaster response.

Summit speakers, including some of the world's foremost AI luminaries, will explore the latest breakthroughs in AI and examine actions to ensure that AI works to humanity's benefit.

“ITU's annual AI for Good Global Summit brings together a diverse set of voices to look at the latest AI developments and find ways to ensure this technology remains a force for good, driving inclusive growth and sustainable and equitable progress for all," said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin. “This summit and our year-round AI for Good platform are powerful tools for accelerating progress in our race to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030."

​On May 29, discussions dedicated to AI governance will explore the surge in global efforts to craft AI policy, regulation, and governance frameworks. AI Governance Day – bringing together representatives of governments, companies, academia, civil society, and UN agencies – aims to forge pathways to transform dialogue around AI governance into impactful action.

​The UN Platform for AI-powered by ITU

AI for Good identifies practical applications of AI to accelerate progress toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals and connects AI innovators with public and private-sector decision-makers to help scale up AI solutions globally.

ITU, the UN specialized agency for information and communication technologies, organizes the yearly AI for Good Global Summit together with 40 partner UN agencies. The event is co-convened by the Government of Switzerland.

AI for Good discussions foster international cooperation and innovation to create equitable access to new technologies. The discussions support ITU in spurring timely policy exchanges, developing best practices and technical standards, and catalyzing partnerships for AI solutions to contribute to sustainable development.

Thought Leaders and Thought-controlled Machines

In addition to talks by AI thought leaders, this year's summit will host machine learning masterclasses, curated by experts for experts, covering topics from deepfakes and climate change to brain-machine interfaces, AI for public services, explainable AI, and machine learning in communication networks.

Start-ups, young people, and creatives will demonstrate their ideas at the AI for Good Innovation Factory Grand Finale, Robotics for Good Youth Challenge and Canvas of the Future art contest.

The summit's exhibition space will feature an array of cutting-edge demos, including AI for accessibility, collective drone swarms, bio-inspired rescue robots, a RoboCup robot football tournament, performance-boosting exoskeletons, and AI-inspired art.

Exhibition highlights will include demos of brain-machine interfaces – an AI advancement that promises to open new frontiers for neurotechnology. A press conference on brain-machine interfaces will highlight new technologies enabling mind-controlled movement and communication for persons with disabilities, offering insights into how progress in the field could impact the future of human performance, mental health, and well-being. 

The 2024 edition of the summit comes in conjunction with the WSIS+20 Forum High-Level Event. The World Summit on Information Society event brings together the world's digital development community to discuss concrete actions to advance sustainable development.

The AI for Good Global Summit will take place at the International Conference Centre Geneva (CICG).

Registration for media accreditation for reporters wishing to cover the AI for Good Global Summit is open. Registration for the public​ is also open and is free of charge. Registrants can attend either in person or online to connect with an expected 2,500 participants in Geneva and over 25,000 professionals worldwide who are part of the AI for Good Neural Network. Capacity is limited and early registration is encouraged.

Confirmed speakers include: ​

• Doreen Bogdan-Martin - ITU Secretary-General
• Geoffrey Hinton - Advisor for the Learning in Machines & Brains, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (presenting remotely)
• Sam Altman - CEO, OpenAI (presenting remotely)
• HRH Princess Beatrice - United Kingdom
• Abeba Birhane - Senior Fellow in Trustworthy AI, Mozilla Foundation, Time 100 AI
• Stuart Russell - Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of "Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control"
• Daron Acemoglu - Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and New York Times bestselling author of "Why Nations Fail: Power, Prosperity, and Poverty"
• Gary Marcus - Scientist, best-selling author, and serial entrepreneur, New York University
• Nicholas Thompson - CEO, The Atlantic
• Fatmah Baothman - CEO, Alothaim Investment AI and R&D Company
• Vincent Vanhoucke - Senior Director of Robotics, Google DeepMind
• Mo Gawdat - Former Chief Business Officer at Google X, and best-selling author of "Scary Smart" and "Solve for Happy"

See all of the AI for Good Global Summit 2024 speakers here.

​Demos of robots, drones, and brain-machine interfaces include:

• Mind-controlled wheelchair (Inclusive Brains)
• Bio-inspired amphibious snake robot for pollution detection in lakes (EPFL)
• Snake-like robot for saving disaster victims and inspecting confined spaces (RoBoa)
• World's first self-stabilizing walking exoskeleton (Wandercraft)
• Highly dexterous bionic hand (Esper Bionics)
• Vision-controlled quadrotors for disaster response (University of Zurich)
• First human-centric, multi-purpose robot for logistics (Agility Robotics)
• Brain-computer interface speech-generating device (Cognixion)
• Rapidly deployable life-saving sensor robots (Squishy Robotics)
• Brain-controlled hand exoskeleton (Brain Center at the U.S. National Science Foundation's Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers)
• Glasses empowering blind people with more mobility (ilumen)
• Social robot supporting children with neurodevelopmental disorders (Leka APF France Handicap)

The AI for Good Global Summit 2024 is supported by Immersion4 (Diamond sponsor), DLA Piper (Diamond sponsor), AWS (Gold sponsor), Alibaba DAMO Academy (Gold sponsor), ZTE (Gold sponsor), and KUKA (Networking sponsor).

Editor's Notes:

• Journalists register here for AI for Good Global Summit 2024 media accreditation
• General public registration link.
• The program is available here. Learn more about the event in this video.
• Digital media kit
• AI for Good Neural Network
• Follow social media posts using the hashtag #AIforGood

About AI for Good:​

The goal of AI for Good is to identify practical applications of AI to accelerate progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals and connect AI innovators with public and private-sector decision-makers to help scale up AI solutions globally. The landmark AI for Good Global Summit 2017 marked the beginning of a global dialogue on the potential of AI to act as a force for good. The action-oriented 2018, 2019, and 2023 summits gave rise to numerous AI for Good projects including several ITU "pre-standardization" initiatives investigating the standardization requirements for high-potential AI use cases. The upcoming AI for Good Global Summit 2024 (30-31 May, Geneva) combines 2,500+ participants and online participation from the over 25,000 members of the AI-powered community platform, the A​I for Good Neural Network, making it the world's largest and most inclusive AI solutions and matchmaking event.