The Definition That 47 Countries Agreed On: What AI Actually Is?
How many times are you asked what is AI, such a simple question but what is the answer
After years of debate, 47 countries agreed: AI is “a machine-based system that infers from input how to generate outputs that can influence environments.” This sentence now shapes every major AI regulation on Earth.
An AI system is a machine-based system that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input it receives, how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations, or decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments. Different AI systems vary in their levels of autonomy and adaptiveness after deployment.
Who Is OECD.AI? The People Setting the Rules for Artificial Intelligence
OECD.AI is an online interactive platform and policy observatory created by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development the international forum of 38 member countries (mostly wealthy democracies) that shapes global economic policy.
Think of it as the United Nations of AI policy but with teeth.
What They Actually Do
OECD.AI runs the AI Policy Observatory, which tracks over 1,000 AI initiatives across nearly 70 jurisdictions worldwide. OECD It’s essentially a living database of how every major government is trying to regulate, promote, and control artificial intelligence.
But they’re not just observers they’re rule-makers.
The Network Behind the Platform
OECD.AI is powered by a Network of Experts: over 350 of the world’s leading AI experts organised into six thematic groups covering AI Futures, AI Risks and Accountability, AI Incidents, AI Index, AI Data and Privacy, and Compute and Climate.
These aren’t politicians or bureaucrats they’re the actual researchers, technologists, and policy specialists shaping how AI will be governed globally.
Who Runs It
The platform is overseen by Karine Perset, Acting Head of the OECD AI and Emerging Digital Technologies Division, who manages both the OECD.AI Policy Observatory and the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI), plus an integrated network of experts.
Why They Matter
In 2019, OECD member countries adopted the OECD AI Principles the first intergovernmental standard on artificial intelligence. These principles now have 47 adherents, including the European Union, the United States, and most G20 countries.
When the EU wrote its AI Act? They used the OECD definition.
When the UN discusses AI governance? They reference OECD principles.
When governments worldwide create AI policies? They check OECD.AI first.
The Bottom Line
OECD.AI isn’t a company, a nonprofit, or a think tank. It’s the de facto global standard-setter for AI policy a platform where governments, experts, and international organisations collaborate to decide how artificial intelligence will be governed on planet Earth.
They provide tools, live data, and authoritative analysis that inform policymakers and AI actors worldwide. OECD
If AI is the future, OECD.AI is writing its constitution.