The United Nations has launched its first Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance in Geneva, with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warning that AI is being deployed faster than societies and states can control it. A new UN report highlights critical risks, including the concentration of technology in a handful of players, mass manipulation of information, threats to children, and state use of AI for surveillance and warfare.
Guterres said the world faces a choice: either we put artificial intelligence in a framework and steer it, or we drift. The UN report, prepared by the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI, brings together 40 experts, including Piotr Sankowski from Poland’s IDEAS institute. It states that with growing evidence of AI’s deceptive behaviors, science cannot currently guarantee that as capabilities increase, AI will not cause catastrophic harm, either on its own or through malicious use.
Global power concentration and the digital divide
The report points out that 75% of the computing power from the world’s top 500 AI supercomputers is concentrated in the United States, with China holding 15%. The rest of the world shares the remaining 10%. This means most countries have no influence over the technology and cannot audit the AI models their citizens depend on. According to Jakub Szymik, founder of the Digital Democracy Observatory Foundation present at the Geneva talks, AI is no longer just a commercial product but is being treated as a weapon. Advanced models with offensive cyber capabilities, like the US-developed Mythos, are considered national security assets, blocking other nations from access.
– Most countries have no influence over this technology. They cannot even check how the AI models their citizens use actually work – said Jakub Szymik.
Threats to democracy and children
The UN report stresses that AI facilitates mass production of persuasive and misleading content. Algorithmic micro-targeting can shift voter preferences by up to 25 percentage points in experiments. No democracy has yet built effective defenses that operate at such speed. Another major concern is AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and the mental health risks to minors who turn to AI models for support. The report notes that AI’s tendency to reinforce user beliefs has been linked to documented deaths.
– We may be the last generation able to set the terms of coexistence between humanity and machines. The doors are still open, but they will not stay open for long – concluded Antonio Guterres.
To counter the risks, Guterres proposed a Global Fund for AI to help member states build skills, data resources, and affordable computing power. More than 20 countries have already signaled participation. The full recommendations will be presented to the General Assembly soon.
Źródło: WNP.PL, Fot. UN Photo/Evan Schneider, Frame Stock Footage/Shutterstock
