🏛️ AI Governance and UN Terminology

The rules, institutions and processes used to guide how AI is built, used and overseen so its benefits and risks are handled in the public interest.

A planned process for strengthening people, organisations and systems so they can carry out tasks well, sustainably and with less outside help.

A way of adopting text when no delegation present formally objects, so the chair can move forward without holding a vote.

A document symbol is the official code used to identify and retrieve a specific United Nations document, while prefixes such as A/RES/ show what kind of document it is and where it came from.

The main UN forum where all Member States meet to debate issues, negotiate texts and adopt resolutions on matters including digital technology and AI.

A United Nations-led process for bringing governments and other relevant actors together to discuss shared approaches for managing AI across borders.

A UN-agreed framework that sets shared principles and actions for a safer, more inclusive and more coordinated digital future, including how digital technologies and AI should be governed globally.

A proposed UN-linked expert body that would review evidence on AI and provide independent scientific advice for global discussions and cooperation.

Weapons that can select and apply force to targets with reduced or no direct human control at the moment of attack, raising legal, ethical and security concerns.

An authorised task or scope of work formally given to a person, group or organisation by a competent authority.

A sovereign country that belongs to an international organisation and can take part in its formal meetings, negotiations and decisions.

A way of working where several countries address a shared issue through a common framework, negotiation or joint action rather than acting alone.

A UN-wide political agreement that sets shared priorities and follow-up actions for future global challenges, including digital cooperation and the governance of artificial intelligence.

A country’s official team at the United Nations or another international organisation represents its government in meetings, negotiations and documents on a continuing basis.

A formally counted vote where each eligible member’s position is entered into the official record, so others can see who supported, opposed or abstained.

A regulation is a binding rule made by a competent authority under rule-making powers granted by law for those within its scope.

A formal text adopted by a UN body or other assembly to record a shared position, request action or set next steps.

The main administrative body that supports the United Nations by preparing documents, organising meetings, carrying out mandates and helping Member States work through the UN system.

The UN body with primary responsibility for international peace and security can adopt decisions, including resolutions, that carry special political and legal weight.

A shared UN framework of 17 goals that countries agreed to use as a guide for improving people’s lives and protecting the planet by 2030.

A terms of reference document sets the job, scope, roles, timeline and expected outputs for a group, project or process.

A United Nations change agenda that aims to make the organisation more effective, skilled, networked, data-informed and digitally capable for today’s problems.

A structured check of how an AI system is governed, tested and used, producing evidence-based confidence that stated requirements are met and risks are controlled.

Shared digital building blocks and reusable digital tools that help countries deliver public services, especially when they are designed for broad access and interoperability.

A tool, model or dataset can serve beneficial civilian purposes and also be adapted for harmful, coercive or military uses.

A document approved through a recognised international standards process that sets common requirements, guidance or methods for repeated use.

The ability of systems or organisations to exchange information and use it correctly under compatible rules.

A way of shaping rules or shared practices with several kinds of actors, such as governments, companies, experts, civil society and affected communities.

A formally issued or adopted text that sets shared principles, expectations or guidance for behaviour, often without creating the same binding legal duties as a regulation or treaty.

A regulatory sandbox is a limited testing programme run by a public authority under defined conditions to learn, manage risks and shape future rules.

A way to set stricter rules for uses more likely to cause serious harm, while applying lighter duties to lower-risk uses.

An approach to rule-making that sets obligations by function, outcome or risk, rather than by naming one specific technology.