Three major international standardization organizations — International Organization for Standardization (ISO), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and International Telecommunication Union (ITU) — have jointly released what’s called the “Seoul Statement,” aimed at embedding ethics, human‑rights, and social considerations into the global standards for AI. Their goal is to ensure that AI development and deployment happens within a framework that promotes safety, inclusion, trust, interoperability and regulatory alignment.
At the core of the Seoul Statement are four guiding principles for “trustworthy AI.” These principles require that standards for AI reflect not just technical aspects, but also sociological and human‑rights dimensions; that AI systems should be developed and maintained in a way that respects global needs; and that standard‑setting should involve collaboration between governments, industry, academia, and civil society.The emphasis is on multi‑stakeholder consensus, so that no single group’s priorities dominate — and different voices (especially from developing regions) are heard.
The initiative acknowledges key challenges — including the uneven distribution of compute infrastructure globally. For instance, many developing countries currently house less than 1% of global data‑center capacity, lack adequate chipset supply, and face shortages in AI-training resources. The standards bodies argue that without addressing such structural disparities, ethical or inclusive AI standards will not be meaningful.
Looking forward, these organizations plan to develop more detailed standards — such as for secure storage of sensitive data, and tackling risks like misinformation, election interference, and deepfakes. Their ambition is not that standardization will solve all AI‑risks — but that it will play a foundational role in global AI governance and help steer development in a direction aligned with human rights, fairness, and trust.
