CHENNAI: B Ravindran of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) has been appointed to the United Nations’ Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence, a newly constituted global body tasked with providing rigorous and independent scientific assessments of AI’s impact on society.
The panel was established through a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly in August 2025. It is the first global scientific body dedicated exclusively to Artificial Intelligence and comprises 40 leading experts from different regions and disciplines. The panel will examine how AI is transforming economies, governance and everyday life, and provide evidence-based inputs to international policy discussions.
According to a statement issued by IIT Madras, the creation of the panel follows commitments made under the Global Digital Compact adopted at the 2024 Summit of the Future. The compact called for a shared vision for an open, safe and inclusive digital future, including the formation of a global scientific body on AI.
Ravindran heads the Wadhwani School of Data Science and AI, and is the founding head of the Centre for Responsible AI at IIT Madras. He has more than three decades of experience in Artificial Intelligence research, with interests spanning responsible AI and deep reinforcement learning.
Thanking the UN for the appointment, Ravindran said, “AI is a generational technology, and it is affecting everybody, sometimes knowingly and often without their knowledge. The UN has now constituted an international panel of experts to examine the far-reaching implications of Artificial Intelligence. I am very honoured to represent India on this panel and the voice of the Global South.”
The institute said the appointment underscores IIT Madras’ growing role in global discussions on responsible and inclusive AI governance.
Working with AI for more than three decades
Ravindran heads the Wadhwani School of Data Science and AI and is the founding head of the centre for Responsible AI at IIT Madras. He has more than three decades of experience in Artificial Intelligence research