In a world where artificial intelligence is reshaping economies, societies, and power structures at unprecedented speed, the question of who gets to help shape its rules has never mattered more. This is why the recent recommendation of Professor Rita Orji to the United Nations International Scientific AI Panel is both a personal triumph and a moment of global significance for Nigeria, for Africa, and for the future of responsible AI governance.
Recommended by the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, Prof. Orji stands among 40 experts drawn from across the world, following a rigorous international selection process. She is the only Nigerian on the list, and one of the very few voices representing the Global South at a table where decisions will influence how artificial intelligence evolves across borders and generations.
The final appointment now lies with the United Nations General Assembly, whose vote will determine the composition of a panel designed to guide humanity through one of its most transformative technological eras.
Why the United Nations AI Panel Matters Now
Artificial intelligence is advancing faster than any regulatory or ethical framework can easily contain. From automated decision-making to generative systems capable of influencing elections, economies, and culture, the stakes are no longer theoretical. They are immediate, global, and deeply human.
Recognising this urgency, the United Nations General Assembly took a landmark step last year by establishing an Independent International Scientific Panel on AI. The goal is clear: to ensure that global AI governance is grounded in independent, science-based assessment, not commercial pressure or geopolitical rivalry.
If approved, the panel will provide authoritative guidance to help governments keep pace with rapid technological change, ensuring that innovation remains aligned with humanity’s collective interests rather than drifting beyond democratic and ethical oversight.
Rita Orji’s recommendation places her at the heart of this global effort.
A Scholar Whose Work Anticipated This Moment
Rita’s career has long been shaped by the very questions the United Nations is now racing to address. As a Professor of Computer Science and Canada Research Chair in Persuasive Technology, she has spent years interrogating how intelligent systems interact with human values, behaviour, trust, and culture.
Her work sits at the intersection of human-centred AI, ethics, and persuasive technologies, fields that are increasingly central to debates around AI governance. Long before ethical AI became a policy buzzword, Rita was asking hard questions about bias, inclusion, and accountability, and building frameworks that show how technology can influence behaviour without manipulation or harm.
This depth of expertise makes her recommendation less symbolic and more strategic. She is not merely being recognised; she is being called upon because her research speaks directly to the challenges the world now faces.
Global Recognition, Built on Intellectual Rigor
Rita Orji’s academic journey is marked by sustained excellence rather than momentary acclaim. Her research has been published in leading international journals and conferences, widely cited, and applied across disciplines. She has received multiple awards for innovation, research impact, and leadership, and she is recognised globally as a thought leader in ethical and inclusive technology design.
Beyond publications and honours, her influence is evident in how her ideas travel from academic spaces into real-world conversations about policy, design, and governance. This ability to bridge theory and practice is precisely what the UN panel requires: experts who can translate scientific insight into guidance that governments can act upon.
A Voice for Inclusion in a Uneven Global Landscape
Perhaps the most profound aspect of Rita's recommendation is what it represents in a global system where technological power is often concentrated in a few regions. AI systems are frequently developed without sufficient input from the cultures, contexts, and communities most affected by their deployment.
Prof. Orji has consistently challenged this imbalance. Her work insists that technology must be inclusive by design, sensitive to cultural differences, and accountable to the people it serves. This perspective brings essential balance to a panel tasked with shaping governance frameworks meant for the entire world, not just its most technologically advanced corners.
Her presence ensures that conversations about AI ethics are not abstract, but grounded in lived realities across diverse societies.
Looking Ahead
As the United Nations General Assembly prepares to vote on the panel’s composition, Rita Orji’s recommendation already stands as a moment of significance. If confirmed, she will help guide how the world thinks about, governs, and lives with artificial intelligence in the years ahead.
In a defining era for technology and humanity alike, her voice brings clarity, conscience, and credibility.
For Nigeria, it is a moment of quiet pride. For the world, it is a reminder that the future of AI governance is strongest when it reflects the full diversity of human experience.
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