Tasked with navigating the precarious intersection of innovation and ethics, this group of world-leading experts is launching groundbreaking research into the forces transforming modern life.
”We are not just focused on AI as a mathematical or algorithmic field, but also on ensuring humans are at the center of decision-making.” says Menna El-Assadi, assistant professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich.
Ms. El-Assadi is one of the founding members of the United Nations Independent Commission on AI, recommended by the United Nations Secretary-General for membership. Independent International Scientific Panel on AI. The first global scientific association on artificial intelligence (AI), bringing together leading experts to assess how AI is changing our lives.
May 4, 2026-UNNews-AIPanel-Assadi-Final.jpg
An Egyptian national, she is one of 40 members officially appointed at the General Assembly in February. They come from a variety of backgrounds, including academia, private sector, civil society, government/international organizations, and the technical community, and have a background in core technical expertise in AI. Experience with AI, safety, and infrastructure applications. AI policy, ethics, and impact.
augmented intelligence
“Man in the machine” is a phrase often used in connection with the use of AI. This refers to the idea that humans should always be involved in decision-making by AI tools.
”We are exploring when we need to rely on humans and their expertise and when we can automate.“We need to understand the link between AI and human models, what is known as the co-adaptive loop, and the evolution that occurs every time humans receive new information or AI receives new information.”
At ETH Zurich, Ms. El-Assadi developed the concept of “augmented intelligence.” Rather than completely replacing humans, leverage AI to enhance human capabilities and build AI-human collaboration in various fields..
This expertise will be particularly useful for the work of the AI Panel, which examines how the use of AI is impacting different sectors of society, such as the labor market and the healthcare system.
Ms. El-Assadi advocates for a “public digital infrastructure” so that everyone who wants to develop AI has the resources they need.
“We also need to consider how. Incorporate different cultures and languages within your AI models so you are not limited to a few countries” she added.
Trust, ethics and watermarks
The launch of the panel reflected growing concern, particularly within the United Nations, about the risks of unregulated AI.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned the Security Council in September 2025 that “we cannot trust the fate of humanity to algorithms,” while UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türck said in February that AI developers risk creating a “Frankenstein’s monster” when they build models without understanding fundamental social and ethical principles.
El-Assady agrees that ethics and trust are important to the field, as is awareness of the limitations of AI models.
One possible solution suggested by Ms. El-Assadi is “AI watermarkThis makes it clear whether content is human-generated or AI-generated, and how to differentiate between them.
These are examples of the kinds of topics that could be included in the scientific panel’s first report, which will be presented at the Global Dialogue on AI Governance in Geneva on July 6-7.
