GENEVA: Misinformation and hate speech are inciting harm to refugees, with artificial intelligence exacerbating the spread, the United Nations warned Monday, as it urged tech giants to help turn the tide.
However, if handled the right way, AI could be put to good use in managing humanitarian crises, said UNHCR, the UN refugee agency.
UNHCR is taking part in the AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, putting across its point that the world’s major displacement crises are often twinned with “information crises.”
The summit is an attempt by the wider UN to focus on using AI’s potential to serve humanity by solving global challenges, and to look at the state of AI standards.
“The spread of misinformation, hate speech and deepfakes is exacerbating and inciting real-world harm to refugees and humanitarians,” Gisella Lomax, UNCHR’s senior adviser on information integrity, told reporters.
