From AI to ‘killer robots’: UN chief issues urgent governance call
Addressing the inaugural UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance in Geneva, the Secretary-General also insisted on the need for greater accessibility for the billions of people unable to access the revolutionary tech. He insisted that any future agreement must be “worthy of global trust” and put safety first – and especially children’s - to protect them from digitally-generated manipulation and abuse.
Echoing that call, the President of the General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock, urged collective action to counter the “sinister" side of AI, noting that a reported 99 per cent of deepfakes are sexual in nature and 96 per cent target women and girls.Narrowing the digital gap Other priorities for global checks and balances on AI should include locked-in access to the self-learning tech for developing countries, while all AI data centres should be powered by renewable energy by 2030, the UN chief stressed.Although AI “sits at the heart of our common future”, it needs to be one where “machines can inform, but humans must decide, and answer”, Mr. Guterres told the summit gathered in Geneva, echoing calls for AI rules that he first made to the General Assembly in 2017.In the three years since AI went mainstream, it has had a revolutionary impact across economies and societies, for better and for worse. Ahead of this, the UN has been leading international efforts to shape controls on the tech, culminating in Monday’s inaugural Global Dialogue on AI in Geneva. The meeting brought together companies, researchers, technical experts, civil society and even classically trained composer-turned transmedia electronic artist Gadi Sassoon ahead of discussions on how to put humanity at the core of the transformative technology. A second Dialogue is scheduled for May 2027 in New York.
