UN chief calls for steps to manage AI risks

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called for steps to manage artificial intelligence (AI) risks, including creating a multilateral AI Risk Management Framework.



"For centuries, power came from territory. Then industry. Then finance. Today, power increasingly comes from data, computing capacity and algorithms. This new power is highly concentrated. It is advancing at extraordinary speed, and racing ahead of our ability to understand its full consequences," Guterres said in an address to the opening of the General Debate of the 81st Session of the UN General Assembly.



The danger is not technology -- the danger is technology without accountability, capability without oversight, and decision-making without transparency. And that danger cannot be minimized. The very developers building these systems are now pulling the alarm, said Guterres.



The first duty of government is to protect its people. Governments must assume their responsibilities. And governments with the greatest AI capabilities have the greatest responsibilities to humanity, to establish channels for dialogue, transparency, trust and cooperation, he said.