Episode 1: Dr. Emma Ruttkamp-Bloem | From UNESCO to UN

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AI Ethics Navigator

Kamini Govender

8 episodes

1 week ago

AI Ethics Navigator examines how emerging technologies are reshaping society, power, and everyday life. Hosted by Kamini Govender, each episode features researchers, advisors, and practitioners — including voices from UNESCO, the UN AI Advisory Body, and the Alan Turing Institute — exploring what ethics looks like in practice when technology meets society. Thoughtful, unhurried conversations linking ideas across disciplines and geographies, with Global South perspectives often missing from mainstream discourse. Connect with Kamini: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kamini-govender

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Society & Culture

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Episode 1: Dr. Emma Ruttkamp-Bloem | From UNESCO to UN – Shaping Global AI Ethics Policy

AI Ethics Navigator

1 hour 11 minutes 56 seconds

3 weeks ago

Episode 1: Dr. Emma Ruttkamp-Bloem | From UNESCO to UN – Shaping Global AI Ethics Policy

Originally published: 1 Oct 2025

Guest: Dr Emma Ruttkamp-Bloem | AI Ethics Researcher, Professor and Head of Department of Philosophy at University of Pretoria, Chair of UNESCO's World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology, Former Member UN AI Advisory Body

Topic: From UNESCO to UN – Shaping Global AI Ethics Policy

Getting 193 countries to agree on anything is nearly impossible.

Prof Emma did it for AI ethics. She chaired the UNESCO Ad Hoc Expert Group that drafted the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI—the first global normative instrument on AI ethics—adopted by all 193 Member States in 2021.

In this episode, we explore:

The reality of international AI governance: what it takes to build consensus across 193 countries with different values, interests, and stages of technological readiness—and the critical role of epistemic justice in recognizing every country as a credible contributor

Why ethics isn't just about principles: Prof Emma explains ethics as a dynamic reasoning system, not a checklist, and why lists of AI principles are "completely useless" without translation into action and procedural regulation

The implementation gap: why getting countries to sign on is just the beginning, and what's needed to bridge the distance between international agreements and real-world impact—including her view that we need both top-down hard legislation with serious financial consequences and bottom-up community-driven approaches

Her urgent warning about pervasiveness and manipulation:

"Protect your right to think for yourself… out-think the business model."

Prof Emma discusses why AI's embeddedness in daily life is one of the biggest threats we face, how it affects our ability to determine what facts are, and why mental integrity and authentic decision-making are at risk

What you'll understand after listening: How international AI policy actually gets made—not the idealized version, but the real negotiations, trade-offs, and ongoing work of translating agreement into action.

Episode length: 1 hour 12 minutes

Connect with Kamini: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kamini-govender