Artificial intelligence has emerged as one of the most prominent issues before the United Nations General Assembly, following incidents that raised concerns about certain systems escaping human control, alongside warnings issued by tech insiders that triggered global anxiety and calls for tighter government oversight of the sector.
اضافة اعلان
World leaders at the UN hold contrasting visions regarding the future of artificial intelligence, split between those focusing on its risks and those who see promising opportunities.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres opened the series of world leader addresses to the General Assembly with a call to tighten AI regulation, warning in strong terms of the potential risks stemming from it.
In his farewell address to world leaders, Guterres stated: "We must decide that decisions regarding life and death should never be handed over to machines. There is no place for killer robots in our future."
Guterres had previously warned of the dangers of artificial intelligence during his first address to the General Assembly a decade ago. He noted that the world needs to "create the necessary conditions to ensure the responsible development of AI, while implementing required safeguards to address risks."
The UN Security Council is scheduled to discuss on Wednesday how to impose forms of regulation on this technology, in a meeting featuring several prominent figures working in the AI field.
In contrast, US President Donald Trump maintained his firm opposition to regulating AI, asserting that labeling the technology as "artificial" diminishes its capabilities, and expressed hope that the world would adopt a new term for it.
Trump said the term "superintelligence" sounds "much better" and "more accurate." He also compared the warnings issued by AI safety advocates to those regarding climate change, despite the broad consensus within scientific circles regarding human-driven climate change.
"The United States completely rejects any attempt to establish a global blueprint for controlling artificial intelligence," Trump stated. He added that "every major new technology brings challenges, and superintelligence is no exception."
He continued by stating that the very same people who previously warned, as he put it, that the world would face disaster due to global warming are now warning that AI will kill humans, robots will attack, and things will end in a total catastrophe.
Other Nations Call for Safeguards
Prior to the UN General Assembly session, leaders from more than 20 countries mostly European called for the adoption of binding safety measures for advanced AI, warning that the rapid pace of technological development could outpace human ability to control it.
The United States and China, two of the world's primary superpowers in AI, did not endorse the initiative.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham stated that the UK will launch efforts during its G20 presidency in 2027 to establish global standards for AI, alongside the announcement of a defense partnership with Washington that uses AI to detect cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure.
Burnham said: "We will work toward agreeing on a unified set of global principles and standards to guarantee the level of transparency and access needed to bolster our readiness and ensure the safe development of AI."
He had previously announced that London plans to leverage its hosting of the G20 next year to push for the adoption of a "unified set of global principles and standards" regarding AI.
For his part, French President Emmanuel Macron proposed developing AI technologies independent of major global powers.
Speaking to the UN General Assembly, Macron stated: "I do not want any party to become dependent on one of the major powers," in an apparent reference to China and the United States. He added: "We must pool our investment capacities to build an advanced, open-source AI model that we share together. We should not rely on anyone else."
Meanwhile, major US AI companies themselves have increasingly begun calling for global coordination on safety. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is scheduled to address the UN Security Council on Wednesday.
France, which holds the Security Council presidency this month, requested the meeting, believing that the potential threats AI poses to international peace and security have not been sufficiently debated within the UN.
Resource: Al Ghad.
