The United Nations' cultural and scientific agency UNESCO has announced that the United States plans to rejoin – and pay more than $600m in back dues – after a decade-long dispute sparked by the organisation's move to include Palestine as a member. UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay informed ambassadors of the member states of the US decision in a special meeting on Monday. US officials say the decision to return was motivated by concerns that China is filling the gap left by the US in UNESCO policymaking, notably in setting standards for artificial intelligence and technology education around the world. US Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Richard Verma submitted a letter last week to Azoulay formalising the plan. The proposed plan to rejoin in 2023 would be submitted to the General Conference of UNESCO Member States for final approval.

RECRUITING the right talent has always been one of the many factors that give companies their competitive edge. This has become all the more critical in the digital age, where its virtually an employees' market and companies have to compete to hire top talent from a limited pool. As a result, businesses are deploying futuristic technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) to recruit and manage their human workforce. Cosmetic giant L'Oréal, who fills about 15,000 new positions yearly, is one of the many that adopted AI technology to streamline its hiring process this year. According to one report, Global VP of L'Oréal's human resources department Eva Azoulay said that the company wanted to save time while focusing more on quality, experience, and diversity when looking for suitable candidates.

Paris, Mar 7 (Prensa Latina) Participants in a conference held at the UNESCO headquarters defended a governance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) focused on the human element, according to a communiqué from the UN agency. 'The challenges posed by artificial intelligence are not technological, they concern our own humanity; they are scientific, political, philosophical and ethical dilemmas,' UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay said at a meeting held this week. According to the French politician, 'it is time to define the ethical principles to frame that technical disruption and assure that artificial intelligence will be at the service of collective interests and will be based on humanistic values.' When referring to the work by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in terms of AI, Azoulay noted that they will work on the basis of the first report by the World Ethics and Scientific Ethics Commission, which is'devoted to artificial intelligence and will undoubtedly provide major scientific support for reflection and initiatives by the member States'. For his part, the secretary general of the Organization for Cooperation and Economic Development (OCED), Angel Gurria, noted the need to cooperate so that AI can be a vector of integrating and sustainable growth.