The United Nation's agency for digital technologies on Thursday announced a new initiative to improve the trust of

artificial intelligence agents

, as increasingly

autonomous AI systems

raise concerns about accountability ‌and human ⁠oversight.

AI agents ⁠are a new generation of artificial intelligence systems ​designed to act independently on behalf of users, carrying out ​tasks ranging from scheduling and purchasing to complex business processes.

While they can improve productivity, they also ​run the risk of AI ⁠agents impersonating ‌people and taking unauthorized decisions, ​according to ​the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

To address the risks, ⁠the ITU said at the

AI for Good Summit

in Geneva it would establish a Focus Group.

This group will develop frameworks aimed at ensuring AI agents remain identifiable, trustworthy and subject to meaningful human control, particularly in sensitive areas such as financial transactions ‌and critical infrastructure.

"AI agents will soon negotiate, transact and make decisions on our ​behalf," said ​Focus Group ⁠Co-Chair Debora Comparin, adding common international foundations were needed to establish who the agents are and how ​and when they can be trusted.

The group will be comprised of technical, policy and legal experts and hold its first meeting in Paris in November and its second in Geneva in January.