Israeli AI researcher Lior Rokach named to the UN's first scientific panel on AI

Prof. Lior Rokach of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has been selected as one of 40 members of the United Nations' Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence, which the UN describes as the first global scientific body devoted to AI. JNS reported on 6 February 2026 that Secretary-General António Guterres had recommended Rokach for the panel, with formal appointment by the General Assembly to follow. The UN's panel website now lists him as Israel's member.

The panel was created by a General Assembly resolution in August 2025. Its task is to bring together leading researchers to assess how AI is transforming societies and economies, so that international discussions on the technology can draw on the best available evidence rather than hype or fear. According to JNS, the 40 members were chosen from roughly 2,600 applicants representing about 140 countries, with geographic balance one of the selection criteria. The panel is co-chaired by Yoshua Bengio, the Canadian Turing Award winner and deep-learning pioneer, and Maria Ressa, the Filipino journalist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has studied AI-driven disinformation.

Rokach, who grew up in Holon, is a faculty member in Ben-Gurion University's new Stein Faculty of Computer and Information Science and previously chaired its Department of Software and Information Systems Engineering. His research focuses on designing and analysing machine-learning and data-mining methods, and he has co-founded four AI companies. He holds more than 20 patents. In a later interview with JNS he said he would focus on AI safety, meaning ways to make sure AI systems behave as designed and to build controls that prevent unintended harm, and stressed that panel members serve in a personal capacity rather than as government representatives.

The appointment places an Israeli scientist among a small group of experts whose assessments are expected to shape how governments approach AI safety, regulation and the sharing of benefits between rich and poor countries.