Filipina Nobel laureate, Canadian tech pioneer named to UN’s AI panel

Professor of computer science Yoshua Bengio during an interview, Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in Quebec City.

Journalist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa of the Philippines, and Canadian artificial intelligence pioneer Yoshua Bengio are among 40 experts selected to serve on a United Nations AI panel, officials announced Wednesday.

Also named among the independent experts who will serve for three years on the panel are Joelle Barral, a French national who is senior director for research and engineering at Google’s DeepMind.

Ethiopian national Girmaw Abebe Tadesse -- a principal research scientist at the Microsoft lab dedicated to the use of AI in sustainability, humanitarian work and health -- has also been named to the group.

“It will be the first global, fully independent scientific body dedicated to helping close the AI knowledge gap and assess the real impacts of AI across economies and societies,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a press conference.

He unveiled the list of names to be submitted for final consideration by the UN General Assembly.

The members’ expertise spans a range of fields, from machine learning to data governance and cybersecurity, as well as public health, child development, and human rights.

The panel, which aims to be to AI what the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is to global warming, was established by the General Assembly in August 2025.

“All members will serve in their personal capacity independent of any government, company, or institution,” the secretary-general said.

The panel’s first report is expected to be published in time for the UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance in July.