Artificial intelligence has become one of the main topics of the UN General Assembly following cases in which the technology escaped human control, while warnings from industry representatives sparked global alarm and calls for stronger state oversight of the sector. Euronews reports, writes UNN.
Details
UN Secretary-General António Guterres opened the speeches by world leaders at the General Assembly with a call for stronger oversight of AI, issuing a vivid, though somewhat grim, warning about what could go wrong.
Let us agree that decisions on which life and death depend must never be delegated to machines. Killer robots must have no place in our future
He had also warned about AI in his first address to the General Assembly ten years ago.
Saying that the world needs to "create the conditions for the responsible development of AI and the additional safeguards needed to counter the risks," the UN will discuss at the Security Council on Wednesday how to establish a degree of control over the technology. Some of the industry's best-known representatives will take part in the meeting.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump reaffirmed his firm opposition to AI regulation, saying that the word "artificial" diminishes the significance of the technology, and expressing hope that the rest of the world would adopt the new term.
"Super Intelligence" "sounds much better" and is "much more accurate," he said.
Trump wants to rename artificial intelligence as "superintelligence"22.09.26, 19:15
He also compared warnings from AI safety advocates with warnings about climate change, whose anthropogenic nature is confirmed by the overwhelming majority of the scientific community.
Other countries call for safeguards
Ahead of the UN General Assembly, leaders of more than 20 predominantly European countries called for mandatory safety measures for advanced AI, warning that the development of the technology could outpace people's ability to control it.
China and the United States, the global leaders in AI, did not support the idea.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that during the UK's presidency of the G20 in 2027, the country would begin work on establishing global standards in the field of AI. He also announced a partnership with Washington in the defense sector aimed at detecting cyberattacks on critical infrastructure.
French President Emmanuel Macron proposed creating AI technology independent of the major powers.
I do not want anyone to become a vassal of one of the major powers. Our investment capabilities must be pooled to create an advanced open-source AI model that we can share. We must not depend on anyone else
The American tech giants themselves are increasingly calling for global coordination on AI safety issues. Sam Altman of OpenAI is expected to address the UN Security Council on Wednesday.
France, which holds the presidency of the Security Council this month, initiated the meeting, believing that the threat posed by AI to international peace and security has so far been insufficiently discussed at the UN.