SAM Sethserey
Director General of the General Department of Information and Communication Technology, Ministry of Post and Telecommunications of Cambodia
For developing countries such as Cambodia, artificial intelligence is not merely an innovative technology. It is also a catalyst for economic development and for achieving long-term national modernization goals. However, AI development must remain guided by the principle of “AI for humans, not humans for AI.” Achieving this requires both top-down and bottom-up approaches. From the top down, the United Nations and the wider international community should cooperate in establishing common international standards that promote innovation while giving governments, businesses and citizens confidence that AI systems can be used safely and reliably. From the bottom up, AI literacy should be widely promoted among citizens and businesses. People need to understand basic AI principles, recognize potential risks to privacy and personal information, and use AI responsibly. AI literacy is not simply the ability to operate a tool. Users must validate, verify and double-check AI-generated outputs before disseminating them and must remain responsible for the final decision or communication. Future AI leadership will not necessarily depend only on financial resources, computing power or the size of frontier models. In the long run, countries able to build the greatest degree of public trust and achieve safe and reliable adoption may be the ones that lead.
