In line with what Pope Leo XIV and also China have called for, UN Secretary General António Guterres, addressing the inaugural UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance in Geneva this week, appealed on Monday for far-reaching, worldwide controls on Artificial Intelligence.
He warned that increasingly powerful AI chips that are designed for civilian use, can shift to the battlefield, where “killer robots” are already the norm.
He insisted that any future agreement must be “worthy of global trust” and put safety first—and especially safety for children—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 percent of deep fakes are sexual in nature and 96 percent target women and girls.
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 said.
