Artificial intelligence is advancing at an extraordinary pace. From scientific research to healthcare, education and cybersecurity, AI is already reshaping how societies function. Yet as its capabilities grow, so too do questions about who governs it and in whose interests.

That is why the United Nations' launch of the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence is such a significant milestone. Announced in April, the panel brings together leading experts from around the world to produce independent, evidence based assessments of AI's opportunities, risks and global impacts. Its findings will inform discussions at the UN's Global Dialogue on AI Governance later this year. 

The panel reflects a simple but powerful idea: AI should serve humanity not the other way around.

Unlike commercial or national assessments, the UN panel has been established to provide impartial scientific advice that all member states can access, regardless of their technological capacity. In an era where AI development is concentrated among a handful of governments and private companies, creating a shared foundation of knowledge is essential for informed global decision making. 

For WFM Canada, this initiative reinforces one of our core priorities: strengthening international institutions capable of addressing challenges that no country can solve alone.

Artificial intelligence does not recognize national borders. Its benefits and risks from economic transformation and medical breakthroughs to cyberattacks, disinformation and autonomous weapons are inherently global. Effective governance therefore requires international cooperation, common standards and institutions that can help build trust between states.

The creation of the UN's scientific panel is not the final answer to AI governance. It is, however, an important first step toward ensuring that public policy is guided by independent expertise rather than geopolitical competition or commercial interests.

As AI continues to transform our world, the question is no longer whether global governance is needed.

It is whether our international institutions can evolve quickly enough to keep humanity at the centre of one of the most consequential technologies of our time.