At the UN General Assembly’s 2023 General Debate on September 19-26, many leaders spoke about artificial intelligence, and some specifically about existential risk and what to do about it. Attitudes ranged from advocating serious global action (Israel, the UK) to being completely dismissive (Malta). The following is a transcript of the parts of those speeches dealing with AI, sorted chronologically. Some particularly relevant parts bolded by me.
These speeches can be useful for getting a rough sense of various nations’ stances on the issue, and indicate surprisingly strong support from the world’s governments for taking AI risk seriously.
Day 1
United Nations
Delivered by UN Secretary-General António Guterres (link)
We must also face up to the looming threats posed to human rights by new technologies. Generative artificial intelligence holds much promise – but it may also lead us across a Rubicon and into more danger than we can control.
When I mentioned Artificial Intelligence in my General Assembly speech in 2017, only two other leaders even uttered the term. Now AI is on everyone’s lips – a subject of both awe, and fear. Even some of those who developed generative AI are calling for greater regulation.
But many of the dangers of digital technology are not looming. They are here. The digital divide is inflaming inequalities. Hate speech, disinformation and conspiracy theories on social media platforms are spread and amplified by AI, undermining democracy and fueling violence and conflict in real life. Online surveillance and data harvesting are enabling human rights abuses on a mass scale. And technology companies and governments are far from finding solutions.
Excellencies,
We must move fast and mend things. New technologies require new and innovative forms of governance – with input from experts building this technology and from those monitoring its abuses. And we urgently need a Global Digital Compact—between governments, regional organizations, the private sector and civil society—to mitigate the risks of digital technologies, and identify ways to harness their benefits for the good of humanity.
Some have called for consideration of a new global entity on AI that could provide a source of information and expertise for Member States.
There are many different models—inspired by such examples as the International Atomic Energy Agency, the International Civil Aviation Organization or the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The UN stands ready to host the global and inclusive discussions that are needed, depending on the decisions of Member States.
To help advance the search for concrete governance solutions, I will appoint this month a High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence – which will provide recommendations by the end of this year.
Next year’s Summit of the Future is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for progress to deal with these new threats, in line with the vision of the UN Charter. Member States will decide how to move forward on the New Agenda for Peace, the Global Digital Compact, reforms to the international financial architecture, and many other proposals to address challenges and bring greater justice and equity to global governance.
Emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, hold both enormous potential and enormous peril. We need to be sure they are used as tools of opportunity, not as weapons of oppression.
Together with leaders around the world, the United States is working to strengthen rules and policies so AI technologies are safe before they are released to the public; to make sure we govern this technology — not the other way around, having it govern us.
And I’m committed to working through this institution and other international bodies and directly with leaders around the world, including our competitors, to ensure we harness the power of artificial intelligence for good, while protecting our citizens from its most profound risk.
It’s going to take all of us. I’ve been working at this for a while, as many of you have. It’s going to take all of us to get this right.
Inventions are meant to advance humanity. Social media were not invented to disconnect us, but too often they do exactly that. Artificial intelligence can be useful but can it can also be dangerous. In this regard I applaud the Secretary General’s resolve to form a high-level advisory body on artificial intelligence. We need to find a way to govern the development of new technologies, including artificial intelligence, in a way that does not impede economic, developmental, social and research opportunities, while not putting us at risk. A human-centric and human rights-based approach to the full life cycle of technologies, comprising their design development and application as well as decline should be the answer. The Global Digital Compact must be centered on this notion. Things can be done but all actors including private companies will need to be on board with honest and meaningful commitment. Ensuring that human rights are the foundation of an open, safe, digital future is not going to be an easy task. In saying so I look at the key meanings of our time: Disinformation. Unfortunately our time is once again a time of competing of narratives, only now they are much more complex as regards the threat they post to humanity.
To support the creation of an international organization under the UN and provide concrete directions for the development of AI governance, the Korean government plans to host the ‘Global AI Forum’.
Furthermore, we plan to collaborate closely with the ‘High-Level Advisory Body on AI’ being established by the UN to provide a network for communication and collaboration among global experts.
Amongst the issues of existential threats that we are facing, there is one which has become very widespread recently, and I am referring to of course to artificial intelligence, which has in it both at the same time an immense potential for the SDGs, and unprecedented risks for peace and security. Looking for innovation is part of our very nature and needs to be supported when it’s geared towards improving the lives of our people. We are of course fascinated by the advantages provided by digital tools. They simplify our daily life. But we cannot ignore the potential dangers they represent. Artificial intelligence very frequently is more effective than man in many tasks, but just like the language of Aesop it could be the best and the worst thing for humankind.
Cyber attacks using artificial intelligence are already targeting critical infrastructure in hospitals and humanitarian operations conducted by the UN. Security and weapons industries use these techniques, and their potential leads us to an ethical problem: Can a machine decide on the human issue of life and death? These questions show that we all have a duty to build a framework of global governance and ethical norms, dealing with artificial intelligence. Therefore, concluding current works underway on this is of particular importance. I welcome, therefore, works aimed at creating a high-level advisory body on this, within the UN, to work on international governance over artificial intelligence.
A few hours ago, in fact, a mother had to report to the police how a group of boys at school had taken images of her daughter and, using artificial intelligence, created pornographic images of her daughter and distributed them.
The world is changing. People have a right to privacy, to their integrity. All changes in technology throughout the history of humanity have been a major opportunity to create fairer societies, but if we get it wrong, they can also be sources of new Injustice, and in this context it is the obligation of all to create multilateral consensus to create an ethical framework for the development and use of new technologies such as artificial intelligence.
We need a framework which takes the human rights perspective into account in the research and development of new technologies, in order to protect and ferment the dignity and the rights of peoples and individuals. Societies must make progress, there can be no doubt, but we have to do it in a responsible way. That is why understanding and better managing opportunities all the new technologies to put it to use for our benefit before it becomes a threat, is so important. And I would conclude by saying that this is an obligation, and it is what we’ve been doing in Chile since the Congress on the Future which I am absolutely sure you all have initiatives of a similar nature in your country. With humility, but with pride, I can state here today that my country can stand as a Latin American reference for the future of artificial intelligence, and we are going to work tirelessly in that responsible direction. Democracy, as I said, is memory, but it is also future, and that’s why we think that technological development has to be a tool for unity not division. It has to promote the empowerment of all of society.
Even what would seem at a superficial glance a tool that could improve the well-being of humanity, at a closer look can turn out to be a risk. Just think of artificial intelligence: the applications of this new technology may offer great opportunities in many fields, but we cannot pretend to not understand its enormous inherent risks. I’m not sure if we are adequately aware of the implications of technological development whose pace is much faster than our capacity to manage its effects. We were used to progress that aimed to optimize human capacities, while today we are dealing with progress that risks replacing human capacities. Because if in the past this replacement focused on physical tasks, so that humans could dedicate themselves to intellectual and organizational work, today the human intellect risks being replaced, with consequences that could be devastating particularly for the job market. More and more people will no longer be necessary in a world ever dominated by disparities, by the concentration of power and wealth in the hands of the few. This is not the world we want.
And so I think we should not mistake this dominion for a free zone without rules. We need global governance mechanisms that ensure that these technologies respect ethical boundaries, that technological evolution is put to the service of humanity and not vice versa. We must guarantee the practical application of the concept of “algorethics”; that is, ethics for algorithms. There are some of the major themes that Italy plans to put at the center of the G7 in 2024.
Spain
Delivered by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón (link)
Europe also has responsibility of ensuring a more person-centered and rights-oriented digital transformation. We need to lay the groundwork for the regulation of artificial intelligence, a field whose vast possibilities do not outweigh the barely concealed risks. In this regards Spain is committed to supporting the Secretary General’s envoy on technology, providing resources and know-how in the development of multilateral governance in this area. We would like to host the headquarters of the future international artificial intelligence agency.
China supports the UN, with full respect for the governance principles and practices of all countries, in serving as the main channel in creating a widely accepted AI governance framework, standards and norms.
Nepal
Delivered by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal (link)
The void of international governance on cyberspace and artificial intelligence demands multilateral regulation. Dual use [?] of artificial intelligence urgently calls for informed deliberation on preventing its potential misuse, and strengthening of international cooperation.
Day 4
Israel
Delivered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (link)
Ladies and gentlemen, whether our future will prove to be a blessing or a curse will also depend on how we address perhaps the most consequential development of our time: The rise of artificial intelligence.
The AI revolution is progressing at lightning speed. It took centuries for humanity to adopt to the agricultural revolution. It took decades to adapt to the industrial revolution. We may have but a few years to adapt to the AI revolution.
The perils are great, and they are before us. The disruption of democracy, the manipulation of minds, the decimation of jobs, the proliferation of crime, and the hacking of all the systems that facilitate modern life. Yet even more disturbing, is the potential eruption of AI-driven wars that could achieve an unimaginable scale.
And behind this perhaps looms an even greater threat, once the stuff of science fiction, that self-taught machines could eventually control humans, instead of the other way around. The world’s leading nations, however competitive, must address these dangers. We must do so quickly. And we must do so together. We must ensure that the promise of an AI utopia does not turn into an AI dystopia.
We have so much to gain. Imagine the blessings of finally cracking the genetic code, extending human life by decades, and dramatically reducing the ravages of old age. Imagine health care tailored to each individual’s genetic composition, and predictive medicine that prevents diseases long before they occur. Imagine robots helping to care for the elderly. Imagine the end of traffic jams, with self-driving vehicles on the ground, below the ground and in the air. Imagine personalized education that cultivates each person’s full potential throughout their lifetime.
Imagine a world with boundless clean energy, and natural resources for all nations. Imagine precision agriculture and automated factories that yield food and goods in an abundance that ends hunger and want.
I know this sounds like a John Lennon song. But it could all happen.
Imagine, imagine that we could achieve the end of scarcity. Something that eluded humanity for all history. It’s all within our reach. And here’s something else within our reach. With AI, we can explore the heavens as never before and extend humanity beyond our blue planet.
For good or bad, the developments of AI will be spearheaded by a handful of nations, and my country Israel is already among them. Just as Israel’s technological revolution provided the world with breathtaking innovations, I’m confident that AI developed by Israel will once again help all humanity.
I call upon world leaders to come together to shape the great changes before us. But to do so in a responsible and ethical way. Our goal must be to ensure that AI brings more freedom and not less, prevents wars instead of starting them and ensure that people live longer, healthier, more productive and peaceful lives. It’s within our reach.
And as we harnessed the powers of AI, let us always remember the irreplaceable value of human intuition and wisdom. Let us cherish and preserve the human capacity for empathy, which no machine can replace.
Thousands of years ago, Moses presented the children of Israel with a timeless and universal choice. Behold, I said before you this day, a blessing and a curse. May we choose wisely between the curse and the blessing that stand before us this day. Let us harness our resolve and our courage to stop the curse of a nuclear Iran and roll back its fanaticism and aggression.
Let us bring forth the blessings of a new Middle East that will transform lands once written with conflict and chaos, into fields of prosperity and peace. And may we avoid the perils of AI by combining the forces of human and machine intelligence, to usher in a brilliant future for our world in our time, and for all time. Thank you.
Right now, one of the biggest fears many have is of technology. Who have lived through two decades of unprecedented change, from the basic mobile phone and text messaging, to smartphones and face recognition. It can often seem like society has lost control, that the technology itself is in charge, and now with the advent of generative artificial intelligence the risk is that that seems truer than ever. How we feel about our future is unfortunately not helped by deluded media headlines about the machines taking over, spreading fear about AI taking jobs and rendering human effort obsolete. Let’s be clear: AI will have a huge impact on all aspects of society but let us also be clear that if we as leaders take the right decisions, that impact can be a positive one on our societies. Again, as with trade, the answer isn’t to try and turn the clock back, to close our eyes to the inevitable, and hope that it will go away. Indeed the answer is to get the future right, to take the decisions now, so that we can harness the power of AI for the public and the coming good, not fear it as a coming catastrophe.
In Malta we are already doing just that. We are already seeing and experiencing how AI can enhance public service improving lives for all our citizens. We have currently six pilot projects covering areas from healthcare to traffic management, taking ownership through leadership. I’m not trying to ignore the future, though yes, naturally, there is a limit to what any one country especially a small one can do. To make AI a global good we need global action. Malta stands resolutely behind efforts to increase and enhance international cooperation on AI. Technology is changing too fast, its potential so vast that failing to work together isn’t really an option anymore.
Barbados
Delivered by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley (link)
Our democracy cannot survive if we do not have the same facts, but yet we live in a world where the generation of fake news is almost a daily occurrence and where people act on those premises without consideration for whether the news is true or not. The role that generative artificial intelligence will play in our world must be for good purposes and not evil, but if we are to ensure that is the case that in an appropriate framework for regulatory action must be put in place. We therefore support the actions of the Secretary General, recognizing that the question will come one day from some as to whether you sought to preserve our democracy or whether you allowed it to crumble, and whether you have failed us as individual citizens of the world. We ask that question recognizing that AI is not in the immediate focal point of many because the drama and the crises that surround climate is taking out all of the oxygen, literally, in the world.
United Kingdom
Delivered by Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden (link)
But I want to focus on another challenge. A challenge that is already with us today, and which is changing—right now—all of our tomorrows. It is going to change everything we do – education, business, healthcare, defence—the way we live. And it is going to change government – and relations between nations – fundamentally. It is going to change this United Nations, fundamentally.
Artificial Intelligence – the biggest transformation the world has known. Our task as governments is to understand it, grasp it, and seek to govern it. And we must do so at speed. Think how much has changed in a few short months. And then think how different this world will look in five years or ten years’ time.
We are fast becoming familiar with the AI of today, but we need to prepare for the AI of tomorrow. At this frontier, we need to accept that we simply do not know the bounds of possibilities. We are as Edison before the light came on, or as Tim Berners-Lee before the first email was sent. They could not—surely—have respectively envisaged the illumination of the New York skyline at night, or the wonders of the modern internet. But they suspected the transformative power of their inventions.
Frontier AI, with the capacity to process the entirety of human knowledge in seconds, has the potential not just to transform our lives, but to reimagine our understanding of science.
If—like me—you believe that humans are on the path to decoding the mysteries of the smallest particles, or the farthest reaches of our universe, if you think that the Millenium Prize Problems are ultimately solvable, or that we will eventually fully understand viruses, then you will surely agree that by adding to the sum total of our intelligence at potentially dizzying scales, frontier AI will unlock at least some of those answers on an expedited timetable in our lifetimes. Because in AI time, years are days even hours. The “frontier” is not as far as we might assume.
Now, that brings with it great opportunities. The AI models being developed today could deliver the energy efficiency needed to beat climate change, stimulate the crop yields required to feed the world, detect signs of chronic diseases or pandemics, better manage supply chains so everyone has access to the materials and goods they need, and enhance productivity in both business and governments.
In fact, every single challenge discussed at this year’s General Assembly – and more – could be improved or even solved by AI.
Perhaps the most exciting thing is that AI can be a democratising tool, open to everyone. Just as we have seen digital adoption sweep across the developing world, AI has the potential to empower millions of people in every part of our planet, giving everyone, wherever they are, the ability to be part of this revolution.
AI can and should be a tool for all. Yet any technology that can be used by all can also be used for ill. We have already seen the dangers AI can pose: teens hacking individuals’ bank details; terrorists targeting government systems; cyber criminals duping voters with deep-fakes and bots; even states suppressing their peoples.
But our focus on the risks has to include the potential of agentic frontier AI, which at once surpasses our collective intelligence, and defies our understanding.
Indeed, many argue that this technology is like no other, in the sense that its creators themselves don’t even know how it works. They can’t explain why it does what it does, they cannot predict what it will—or will not—do. The principal risks of frontier AI will therefore come from misuse, misadventure, or misalignment with human objectives. Our efforts need to preempt all of these possibilities—and to come together to agree a shared understanding of those risks.
This is what the AI Safety Summit that the United Kingdom is hosting in November will seek to achieve. Despite the entreaties we saw from some experts earlier in the year, I do not believe we can hold back the tide. There is no future in which this technology does not develop at an extraordinary pace. And although I applaud leading companies’ efforts to put safety at the heart of their development, and for their voluntary commitments that provide guardrails against unsafe deployment, the starting gun has been fired on a globally competitive race in which individual companies as well as countries will strive to push the boundaries as far and fast as possible.
Indeed, the stated aim of these companies is to build superintelligence: AI that strives to surpass human intelligence in every possible way.
Now some of the people working on this think it is just a few years away. The question for governments is how we respond to that. The speed and scale demands leaders are clear-eyed about the implications and potential.
We cannot afford to become trapped in debates about whether AI is a tool for good or a tool for ill; it will be a tool for both.
We must prepare for both and insure against the latter.
The international community must devote its response equally to the opportunities and the risks—and do so with both vigour and enthusiasm.
In the past, leaders have responded to scientific and technological developments with retrospective regulation. But in this instance the necessary guardrails, regulation and governance must be developed in a parallel process with the technological progress. Yet, at the moment, global regulation is falling behind current advances. Lawmakers must draw in everyone—developers, experts, academics—to understand in advance the sort of opportunities and risks that might be presented. We must be frontier governments alongside the frontier innovators, and the United Kingdom is determined to be in the vanguard, working with like-minded allies in the United Nations and through the Hiroshima G7 process, the Global Partnership on AI, and the OECD.
Ours is a country which is uniquely placed. We have the frontier technology companies. We have world-leading universities. And we have some of the highest investment in generative AI. And, of course, we have the heritage of the Industrial Revolution and the computing revolution.
This hinterland gives us the grounding to make AI a success, and make it safe.
They are two sides of the same coin, and our Prime Minister has put AI safety at the forefront of his ambitions.
Now, we recognise that while, of course, every nation will want to protect its own interests and strategic advantage, the most important actions we will take will be international.
In fact, because tech companies and non-state actors often have country-sized influence and prominence in AI, this challenge requires a new form of multilateralism. Because it is only by working together that we will make AI safe for everyone.
Our first ever AI Safety Summit in November will kick-start this process with a focus on frontier technology. In particular, we want to look at the most serious possible risks such as the potential to undermine biosecurity, or increase the ability of people to carry out cyber attacks, as well as the danger of losing control of the machines themselves.
For those that would say that these warnings are sensationalist, or belong in the realm of science-fiction, I simply point to the words of hundreds of AI developers, experts and academics, who have said—and I quote:
“Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.”
Now, I do not stand here claiming to be an expert on AI, but I do believe that policy-makers and governments ignore this expert consensus at the peril of all of our citizens.
Our Summit will aim to reach a common understanding of these most extreme risks, and how the world should confront them. And at the same time, focus on how safe AI can be used for public good.
The speed of this progress demands this is not a one-off, or even an annual gathering. New breakthroughs are happening daily, and we need to convene more regularly. Moreover, it is essential that we bring governments together with the best academics and researchers to be able to evaluate the technologies.
Tech companies must not mark their own homework, just as governments and citizens must have confidence that risks are properly mitigated. Indeed, a large part of this work should be about ensuring faith in the system, and it is only nation states that can provide the most significant national security concern reassurance that has been allayed.
Now that is why I am so proud that the United Kingdom’s world-leading Frontier AI Taskforce has brought together pioneering experts like Yoshua Bengio and Paul Christiano, with the head of GCHQ and our National Security Advisers. It is the first body of its kind in the world that is developing the capacity to conduct the safe external red-teaming that will be critical to building confidence in frontier models. And our ambition is for the Taskforce to evolve to become a permanent institutional structure, with an international offer.
Building this capacity in liberal, democratic countries is important. Many world-beating technologies were developed in nations where expression flows openly and ideas are exchanged freely. A culture of rules and transparency is essential to creativity and innovation, and it is just as essential to making AI safe.
So that, ladies and gentlemen, is the task that confronts us.
It is—in its speed, and its scale, and its potential—unlike anything we—or our predecessors—have known before.
Exciting. Daunting. Inexorable.
So we must work – alongside its pioneers – to understand it, to govern it, to harness its potential, and to contain its risks. We will have to be pioneers too.
We may not know where the risks lie, how we might contain them, or even the fora in which we must determine them. What we do know, however, is that the most powerful action will come when nations work together.
The AI revolution will be a bracing test for the multilateral system, to show that it can work together on a question that will help to define the fate of humanity.
Our future—humanity’s future—our entire planet’s future, depends on our ability to do so.
That is our challenge, and this is our opportunity.
To be – truly – the United Nations.
Singapore
Delivered by Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan (link)
The third point I want to make is that in the midst of the Digital Revolution and especially the advent of artificial intelligence, we must prepare for both the risk and also distribute the benefits of these technologies more fairly. In the past year, generative AI, ChatGPT, has captured popular imagination, but actually we are already on the verge of the next stage: AI agents with the ability to negotiate and transact with each other and with humans, and often you won’t be able to tell the difference. This has profound implications on all our societies, on our politics, and our economies everywhere.
And autonomous weapon systems without human fingers on the trigger are already with us. Witness the wars around us, and as Secretary General Antonio Guterres said at the opening of the General Assembly this week, quote “generative AI holds much promise, but it may also lead us across a rubicon and into more danger than we can control”, unquote, and this is especially so in the theater of war and peace. AI will fundamentally disrupt our assumptions on military doctrine and strategic deterrence. For example, the speed at which AI enable weapon systems can be almost instantaneously deployed and triggered will dramatically reduce decision times for our leaders, and there will be many occasions when humans may not even be in the firing loop, but we will be on the firing line. This would inevitably heighten the risk of unintended conflicts or the escalation of conflicts. During the Cold War, the sense of Mutually Assured Destruction imposed mutual restraint, although we now know in fact there were several close shaves. This specter of nuclear escalation has not disappeared. And yet the advent of artificial intelligence in conflict situations has actually increased the risk exponentially.
So we must start an inclusive global dialogue, and we must start it at the United Nations. We need to urgently consider the oversight of such systems and the necessary precautions to avoid miscalculations. And in fact, this is just one facet of many as we focus our minds on how to harness the potential and to manage the risk of AI.
Singapore welcomes the Secretary General’s decision to convene a high-level advisory body on AI to explore these critical issues. Singapore actually is optimistic that the UN and the multilateral system will be up to the task of establishing norms on these fast-emerging critical technologies. The UN open-ended working group on ICT security, which happens to be chaired by Singapore, has made steady progress and this offers some useful lessons for other areas including AI. Singapore commits to continue to support all efforts to promote international cooperation and to strengthen global rules, norms and principles in the digital domain. We also look forward to the adoption of the global digital compact at the summit of the future in 2024.
Sweden
Delivered by Minister for Foreign Affairs Tobias Billström (link)
Emerging Technologies including artificial intelligence are transforming our world. They offer unprecedented possibilities, including to accelerate our efforts on climate change, global health, and the Sustainable Development Goals. This fast-moving development also entails challenges for international security and human rights. Shaping a shared vision of new technologies based on the values of the UN charter will be key to harness their potential and mitigate the risks. Together with Rwanda, Sweden is co-facilitating the process in the general assembly of developing a Global Digital Compact that will outline shared principles for an open free and secure digital future for all.
Costa Rica
Delivered by Minister for Foreign Affairs Arnoldo Ricardo André Tinoco (link)
We urgently need new governance frameworks for cyber crime and artificial intelligence, as well as cyber security. The militarization of new technologies raises specific problems and challenges. Therefore as per the content of the belaying communique and along with Austria and Mexico, we will be presenting a resolution to the General Assembly on the matter of autonomous weapons systems.
Day 5
Somalia
Delivered by Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre (link)
We see that new technologies such as artificial intelligence pose new and terrifying threats.
Ethiopia
Delivered by Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen Hassen (link)
We should also ensure that new technologies such as artificial intelligence are used responsibly in a manner that benefits humanity.
Indonesia
Delivered by Minister for Foreign Affairs Retno Lestari Priansari Marsudi (link)
Access to safe and secure digital technology for developing countries, including AI, is crucial for future sustainable growth.
Iceland
Delivered by Minister for Foreign Affairs Thórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörd Gylfadóttir (link)
Artificial intelligence asks some serious questions that will demand close multilateral cooperation to avoid the very real risk of this technology becoming a tool of destruction rather than creation. And we must also bear in mind that the promise of human rights and freedom applies to individuals, but does not necessarily extend to state-sponsored propaganda or artificially generated misinformation that is intended to sow discord and disunity. Freedom of expression is for human beings, not for programmed bots that spread hate, lies and fear, because human rights are for human beings.
Venezuela
Delivered by Minister for Foreign Affairs Yvan Gil Pinto (link)
The protection of cyberspace, the fight against cybercrime, the regulation of new information technologies, social media and artificial intelligence, must become a strategic priority for the United Nations. If we truly advocate for the defense of human rights and democratic principles, we must promote fair and equitable regulation that prevents the concentration of these new tools in the hands of a few, driven by their interests and control. We cannot accept the use of these new technologies to destabilize legitimate governments and destroy social harmony and peace.
Day 6
Holy See
Delivered by Secretary for Relations with States Archbishop Paul Gallagher (link)
Another important challenge which we have at hand could be defined, more generally, as the expanding digital galaxy we inhabit, and specifically artificial intelligence. There is an urgent need to engage in serious ethical reflection on the use and integration of supercomputer systems and processes in our daily lives. We must be vigilant and work to ensure that the discriminatory use of these instruments does not take root at the expense of the most fragile and excluded. It is not acceptable that the decision about someone’s life and future be entrusted to an algorithm. This is valid in all situations, also in the development and use of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems.
Recently, a growing number of legal and ethical concerns have been raised, about the use of LAWS in armed conflicts. It is clear that their use should be in line with the international humanitarian law.
The Holy See supports the establishment of an International Organization for Artificial Intelligence, aimed at facilitating the fullest possible exchange of scientific and technological information for peaceful uses and for the promotion of the common good and integral human development.
Nicaragua
Delivered by Minister for Foreign Affairs Denis Ronaldo Moncada Colindres (link)
In the face of all the advances in science, technologies, techniques, including those pretentiously called “artificial intelligence” as if not themselves the fruit of human intelligence, Nicaragua demands the full participation of the peoples who have made possible with our blood and resources, these advances of the conquerors. We demand what is ours: the right to fully live this development improving the conditions of labor, study and life, by right of our peoples. At the same time as we propose inclusion, Nicaragua also proposes the rational beneficial use of these resources of humanity, which in the hands of the malevolent constitute weapons of mass destruction against countries, peoples and communities.
Canada
Delivered by Ambassador to the United Nations Bob Rae (link)
[Canadians] are also concerned about artificial intelligence, foreign interference, misinformation, and disinformation.
UNGA General Debate speeches on AI
At the UN General Assembly’s 2023 General Debate on September 19-26, many leaders spoke about artificial intelligence, and some specifically about existential risk and what to do about it. Attitudes ranged from advocating serious global action (Israel, the UK) to being completely dismissive (Malta). The following is a transcript of the parts of those speeches dealing with AI, sorted chronologically. Some particularly relevant parts bolded by me.
These speeches can be useful for getting a rough sense of various nations’ stances on the issue, and indicate surprisingly strong support from the world’s governments for taking AI risk seriously.
Day 1
United Nations
Delivered by UN Secretary-General António Guterres (link)
We must also face up to the looming threats posed to human rights by new technologies. Generative artificial intelligence holds much promise – but it may also lead us across a Rubicon and into more danger than we can control.
When I mentioned Artificial Intelligence in my General Assembly speech in 2017, only two other leaders even uttered the term. Now AI is on everyone’s lips – a subject of both awe, and fear. Even some of those who developed generative AI are calling for greater regulation.
But many of the dangers of digital technology are not looming. They are here. The digital divide is inflaming inequalities. Hate speech, disinformation and conspiracy theories on social media platforms are spread and amplified by AI, undermining democracy and fueling violence and conflict in real life. Online surveillance and data harvesting are enabling human rights abuses on a mass scale. And technology companies and governments are far from finding solutions.
Excellencies,
We must move fast and mend things. New technologies require new and innovative forms of governance – with input from experts building this technology and from those monitoring its abuses. And we urgently need a Global Digital Compact—between governments, regional organizations, the private sector and civil society—to mitigate the risks of digital technologies, and identify ways to harness their benefits for the good of humanity.
Some have called for consideration of a new global entity on AI that could provide a source of information and expertise for Member States.
There are many different models—inspired by such examples as the International Atomic Energy Agency, the International Civil Aviation Organization or the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The UN stands ready to host the global and inclusive discussions that are needed, depending on the decisions of Member States.
To help advance the search for concrete governance solutions, I will appoint this month a High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence – which will provide recommendations by the end of this year.
Next year’s Summit of the Future is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for progress to deal with these new threats, in line with the vision of the UN Charter. Member States will decide how to move forward on the New Agenda for Peace, the Global Digital Compact, reforms to the international financial architecture, and many other proposals to address challenges and bring greater justice and equity to global governance.
United States
Delivered by President Joe Biden (link)
Emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, hold both enormous potential and enormous peril. We need to be sure they are used as tools of opportunity, not as weapons of oppression.
Together with leaders around the world, the United States is working to strengthen rules and policies so AI technologies are safe before they are released to the public; to make sure we govern this technology — not the other way around, having it govern us.
And I’m committed to working through this institution and other international bodies and directly with leaders around the world, including our competitors, to ensure we harness the power of artificial intelligence for good, while protecting our citizens from its most profound risk.
It’s going to take all of us. I’ve been working at this for a while, as many of you have. It’s going to take all of us to get this right.
Slovenia
Delivered by President Nataša Pirc Musar (link)
Inventions are meant to advance humanity. Social media were not invented to disconnect us, but too often they do exactly that. Artificial intelligence can be useful but can it can also be dangerous. In this regard I applaud the Secretary General’s resolve to form a high-level advisory body on artificial intelligence. We need to find a way to govern the development of new technologies, including artificial intelligence, in a way that does not impede economic, developmental, social and research opportunities, while not putting us at risk. A human-centric and human rights-based approach to the full life cycle of technologies, comprising their design development and application as well as decline should be the answer. The Global Digital Compact must be centered on this notion. Things can be done but all actors including private companies will need to be on board with honest and meaningful commitment. Ensuring that human rights are the foundation of an open, safe, digital future is not going to be an easy task. In saying so I look at the key meanings of our time: Disinformation. Unfortunately our time is once again a time of competing of narratives, only now they are much more complex as regards the threat they post to humanity.
Day 2
South Korea
Delivered by President Yoon Suk Yeol (link)
To support the creation of an international organization under the UN and provide concrete directions for the development of AI governance, the Korean government plans to host the ‘Global AI Forum’.
Furthermore, we plan to collaborate closely with the ‘High-Level Advisory Body on AI’ being established by the UN to provide a network for communication and collaboration among global experts.
Monaco
Delivered by Prince Albert II (link)
Amongst the issues of existential threats that we are facing, there is one which has become very widespread recently, and I am referring to of course to artificial intelligence, which has in it both at the same time an immense potential for the SDGs, and unprecedented risks for peace and security. Looking for innovation is part of our very nature and needs to be supported when it’s geared towards improving the lives of our people. We are of course fascinated by the advantages provided by digital tools. They simplify our daily life. But we cannot ignore the potential dangers they represent. Artificial intelligence very frequently is more effective than man in many tasks, but just like the language of Aesop it could be the best and the worst thing for humankind.
Cyber attacks using artificial intelligence are already targeting critical infrastructure in hospitals and humanitarian operations conducted by the UN. Security and weapons industries use these techniques, and their potential leads us to an ethical problem: Can a machine decide on the human issue of life and death? These questions show that we all have a duty to build a framework of global governance and ethical norms, dealing with artificial intelligence. Therefore, concluding current works underway on this is of particular importance. I welcome, therefore, works aimed at creating a high-level advisory body on this, within the UN, to work on international governance over artificial intelligence.
Chile
Delivered by President Gabriel Boric Font (link)
A few hours ago, in fact, a mother had to report to the police how a group of boys at school had taken images of her daughter and, using artificial intelligence, created pornographic images of her daughter and distributed them.
The world is changing. People have a right to privacy, to their integrity. All changes in technology throughout the history of humanity have been a major opportunity to create fairer societies, but if we get it wrong, they can also be sources of new Injustice, and in this context it is the obligation of all to create multilateral consensus to create an ethical framework for the development and use of new technologies such as artificial intelligence.
We need a framework which takes the human rights perspective into account in the research and development of new technologies, in order to protect and ferment the dignity and the rights of peoples and individuals. Societies must make progress, there can be no doubt, but we have to do it in a responsible way. That is why understanding and better managing opportunities all the new technologies to put it to use for our benefit before it becomes a threat, is so important. And I would conclude by saying that this is an obligation, and it is what we’ve been doing in Chile since the Congress on the Future which I am absolutely sure you all have initiatives of a similar nature in your country. With humility, but with pride, I can state here today that my country can stand as a Latin American reference for the future of artificial intelligence, and we are going to work tirelessly in that responsible direction. Democracy, as I said, is memory, but it is also future, and that’s why we think that technological development has to be a tool for unity not division. It has to promote the empowerment of all of society.
Italy
Delivered by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (link)
Even what would seem at a superficial glance a tool that could improve the well-being of humanity, at a closer look can turn out to be a risk. Just think of artificial intelligence: the applications of this new technology may offer great opportunities in many fields, but we cannot pretend to not understand its enormous inherent risks. I’m not sure if we are adequately aware of the implications of technological development whose pace is much faster than our capacity to manage its effects. We were used to progress that aimed to optimize human capacities, while today we are dealing with progress that risks replacing human capacities. Because if in the past this replacement focused on physical tasks, so that humans could dedicate themselves to intellectual and organizational work, today the human intellect risks being replaced, with consequences that could be devastating particularly for the job market. More and more people will no longer be necessary in a world ever dominated by disparities, by the concentration of power and wealth in the hands of the few. This is not the world we want.
And so I think we should not mistake this dominion for a free zone without rules. We need global governance mechanisms that ensure that these technologies respect ethical boundaries, that technological evolution is put to the service of humanity and not vice versa. We must guarantee the practical application of the concept of “algorethics”; that is, ethics for algorithms. There are some of the major themes that Italy plans to put at the center of the G7 in 2024.
Spain
Delivered by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón (link)
Europe also has responsibility of ensuring a more person-centered and rights-oriented digital transformation. We need to lay the groundwork for the regulation of artificial intelligence, a field whose vast possibilities do not outweigh the barely concealed risks. In this regards Spain is committed to supporting the Secretary General’s envoy on technology, providing resources and know-how in the development of multilateral governance in this area. We would like to host the headquarters of the future international artificial intelligence agency.
Day 3
China
Delivered by Vice President Han Zheng (link)
China supports the UN, with full respect for the governance principles and practices of all countries, in serving as the main channel in creating a widely accepted AI governance framework, standards and norms.
Nepal
Delivered by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal (link)
The void of international governance on cyberspace and artificial intelligence demands multilateral regulation. Dual use [?] of artificial intelligence urgently calls for informed deliberation on preventing its potential misuse, and strengthening of international cooperation.
Day 4
Israel
Delivered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (link)
Ladies and gentlemen, whether our future will prove to be a blessing or a curse will also depend on how we address perhaps the most consequential development of our time: The rise of artificial intelligence.
The AI revolution is progressing at lightning speed. It took centuries for humanity to adopt to the agricultural revolution. It took decades to adapt to the industrial revolution. We may have but a few years to adapt to the AI revolution.
The perils are great, and they are before us. The disruption of democracy, the manipulation of minds, the decimation of jobs, the proliferation of crime, and the hacking of all the systems that facilitate modern life. Yet even more disturbing, is the potential eruption of AI-driven wars that could achieve an unimaginable scale.
And behind this perhaps looms an even greater threat, once the stuff of science fiction, that self-taught machines could eventually control humans, instead of the other way around. The world’s leading nations, however competitive, must address these dangers. We must do so quickly. And we must do so together. We must ensure that the promise of an AI utopia does not turn into an AI dystopia.
We have so much to gain. Imagine the blessings of finally cracking the genetic code, extending human life by decades, and dramatically reducing the ravages of old age. Imagine health care tailored to each individual’s genetic composition, and predictive medicine that prevents diseases long before they occur. Imagine robots helping to care for the elderly. Imagine the end of traffic jams, with self-driving vehicles on the ground, below the ground and in the air. Imagine personalized education that cultivates each person’s full potential throughout their lifetime.
Imagine a world with boundless clean energy, and natural resources for all nations. Imagine precision agriculture and automated factories that yield food and goods in an abundance that ends hunger and want.
I know this sounds like a John Lennon song. But it could all happen.
Imagine, imagine that we could achieve the end of scarcity. Something that eluded humanity for all history. It’s all within our reach. And here’s something else within our reach. With AI, we can explore the heavens as never before and extend humanity beyond our blue planet.
For good or bad, the developments of AI will be spearheaded by a handful of nations, and my country Israel is already among them. Just as Israel’s technological revolution provided the world with breathtaking innovations, I’m confident that AI developed by Israel will once again help all humanity.
I call upon world leaders to come together to shape the great changes before us. But to do so in a responsible and ethical way. Our goal must be to ensure that AI brings more freedom and not less, prevents wars instead of starting them and ensure that people live longer, healthier, more productive and peaceful lives. It’s within our reach.
And as we harnessed the powers of AI, let us always remember the irreplaceable value of human intuition and wisdom. Let us cherish and preserve the human capacity for empathy, which no machine can replace.
Thousands of years ago, Moses presented the children of Israel with a timeless and universal choice. Behold, I said before you this day, a blessing and a curse. May we choose wisely between the curse and the blessing that stand before us this day. Let us harness our resolve and our courage to stop the curse of a nuclear Iran and roll back its fanaticism and aggression.
Let us bring forth the blessings of a new Middle East that will transform lands once written with conflict and chaos, into fields of prosperity and peace. And may we avoid the perils of AI by combining the forces of human and machine intelligence, to usher in a brilliant future for our world in our time, and for all time. Thank you.
Malta
Delivered by Prime Minister Robert Abela (link)
Right now, one of the biggest fears many have is of technology. Who have lived through two decades of unprecedented change, from the basic mobile phone and text messaging, to smartphones and face recognition. It can often seem like society has lost control, that the technology itself is in charge, and now with the advent of generative artificial intelligence the risk is that that seems truer than ever. How we feel about our future is unfortunately not helped by deluded media headlines about the machines taking over, spreading fear about AI taking jobs and rendering human effort obsolete. Let’s be clear: AI will have a huge impact on all aspects of society but let us also be clear that if we as leaders take the right decisions, that impact can be a positive one on our societies. Again, as with trade, the answer isn’t to try and turn the clock back, to close our eyes to the inevitable, and hope that it will go away. Indeed the answer is to get the future right, to take the decisions now, so that we can harness the power of AI for the public and the coming good, not fear it as a coming catastrophe.
In Malta we are already doing just that. We are already seeing and experiencing how AI can enhance public service improving lives for all our citizens. We have currently six pilot projects covering areas from healthcare to traffic management, taking ownership through leadership. I’m not trying to ignore the future, though yes, naturally, there is a limit to what any one country especially a small one can do. To make AI a global good we need global action. Malta stands resolutely behind efforts to increase and enhance international cooperation on AI. Technology is changing too fast, its potential so vast that failing to work together isn’t really an option anymore.
Barbados
Delivered by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley (link)
Our democracy cannot survive if we do not have the same facts, but yet we live in a world where the generation of fake news is almost a daily occurrence and where people act on those premises without consideration for whether the news is true or not. The role that generative artificial intelligence will play in our world must be for good purposes and not evil, but if we are to ensure that is the case that in an appropriate framework for regulatory action must be put in place. We therefore support the actions of the Secretary General, recognizing that the question will come one day from some as to whether you sought to preserve our democracy or whether you allowed it to crumble, and whether you have failed us as individual citizens of the world. We ask that question recognizing that AI is not in the immediate focal point of many because the drama and the crises that surround climate is taking out all of the oxygen, literally, in the world.
United Kingdom
Delivered by Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden (link)
But I want to focus on another challenge. A challenge that is already with us today, and which is changing—right now—all of our tomorrows. It is going to change everything we do – education, business, healthcare, defence—the way we live. And it is going to change government – and relations between nations – fundamentally. It is going to change this United Nations, fundamentally.
Artificial Intelligence – the biggest transformation the world has known. Our task as governments is to understand it, grasp it, and seek to govern it. And we must do so at speed. Think how much has changed in a few short months. And then think how different this world will look in five years or ten years’ time.
We are fast becoming familiar with the AI of today, but we need to prepare for the AI of tomorrow. At this frontier, we need to accept that we simply do not know the bounds of possibilities. We are as Edison before the light came on, or as Tim Berners-Lee before the first email was sent. They could not—surely—have respectively envisaged the illumination of the New York skyline at night, or the wonders of the modern internet. But they suspected the transformative power of their inventions.
Frontier AI, with the capacity to process the entirety of human knowledge in seconds, has the potential not just to transform our lives, but to reimagine our understanding of science.
If—like me—you believe that humans are on the path to decoding the mysteries of the smallest particles, or the farthest reaches of our universe, if you think that the Millenium Prize Problems are ultimately solvable, or that we will eventually fully understand viruses, then you will surely agree that by adding to the sum total of our intelligence at potentially dizzying scales, frontier AI will unlock at least some of those answers on an expedited timetable in our lifetimes. Because in AI time, years are days even hours. The “frontier” is not as far as we might assume.
Now, that brings with it great opportunities. The AI models being developed today could deliver the energy efficiency needed to beat climate change, stimulate the crop yields required to feed the world, detect signs of chronic diseases or pandemics, better manage supply chains so everyone has access to the materials and goods they need, and enhance productivity in both business and governments.
In fact, every single challenge discussed at this year’s General Assembly – and more – could be improved or even solved by AI.
Perhaps the most exciting thing is that AI can be a democratising tool, open to everyone. Just as we have seen digital adoption sweep across the developing world, AI has the potential to empower millions of people in every part of our planet, giving everyone, wherever they are, the ability to be part of this revolution.
AI can and should be a tool for all. Yet any technology that can be used by all can also be used for ill. We have already seen the dangers AI can pose: teens hacking individuals’ bank details; terrorists targeting government systems; cyber criminals duping voters with deep-fakes and bots; even states suppressing their peoples.
But our focus on the risks has to include the potential of agentic frontier AI, which at once surpasses our collective intelligence, and defies our understanding.
Indeed, many argue that this technology is like no other, in the sense that its creators themselves don’t even know how it works. They can’t explain why it does what it does, they cannot predict what it will—or will not—do. The principal risks of frontier AI will therefore come from misuse, misadventure, or misalignment with human objectives. Our efforts need to preempt all of these possibilities—and to come together to agree a shared understanding of those risks.
This is what the AI Safety Summit that the United Kingdom is hosting in November will seek to achieve. Despite the entreaties we saw from some experts earlier in the year, I do not believe we can hold back the tide. There is no future in which this technology does not develop at an extraordinary pace. And although I applaud leading companies’ efforts to put safety at the heart of their development, and for their voluntary commitments that provide guardrails against unsafe deployment, the starting gun has been fired on a globally competitive race in which individual companies as well as countries will strive to push the boundaries as far and fast as possible.
Indeed, the stated aim of these companies is to build superintelligence: AI that strives to surpass human intelligence in every possible way.
Now some of the people working on this think it is just a few years away. The question for governments is how we respond to that. The speed and scale demands leaders are clear-eyed about the implications and potential.
We cannot afford to become trapped in debates about whether AI is a tool for good or a tool for ill; it will be a tool for both.
We must prepare for both and insure against the latter.
The international community must devote its response equally to the opportunities and the risks—and do so with both vigour and enthusiasm.
In the past, leaders have responded to scientific and technological developments with retrospective regulation. But in this instance the necessary guardrails, regulation and governance must be developed in a parallel process with the technological progress. Yet, at the moment, global regulation is falling behind current advances. Lawmakers must draw in everyone—developers, experts, academics—to understand in advance the sort of opportunities and risks that might be presented. We must be frontier governments alongside the frontier innovators, and the United Kingdom is determined to be in the vanguard, working with like-minded allies in the United Nations and through the Hiroshima G7 process, the Global Partnership on AI, and the OECD.
Ours is a country which is uniquely placed. We have the frontier technology companies. We have world-leading universities. And we have some of the highest investment in generative AI. And, of course, we have the heritage of the Industrial Revolution and the computing revolution.
This hinterland gives us the grounding to make AI a success, and make it safe.
They are two sides of the same coin, and our Prime Minister has put AI safety at the forefront of his ambitions.
Now, we recognise that while, of course, every nation will want to protect its own interests and strategic advantage, the most important actions we will take will be international.
In fact, because tech companies and non-state actors often have country-sized influence and prominence in AI, this challenge requires a new form of multilateralism. Because it is only by working together that we will make AI safe for everyone.
Our first ever AI Safety Summit in November will kick-start this process with a focus on frontier technology. In particular, we want to look at the most serious possible risks such as the potential to undermine biosecurity, or increase the ability of people to carry out cyber attacks, as well as the danger of losing control of the machines themselves.
For those that would say that these warnings are sensationalist, or belong in the realm of science-fiction, I simply point to the words of hundreds of AI developers, experts and academics, who have said—and I quote:
“Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.”
Now, I do not stand here claiming to be an expert on AI, but I do believe that policy-makers and governments ignore this expert consensus at the peril of all of our citizens.
Our Summit will aim to reach a common understanding of these most extreme risks, and how the world should confront them. And at the same time, focus on how safe AI can be used for public good.
The speed of this progress demands this is not a one-off, or even an annual gathering. New breakthroughs are happening daily, and we need to convene more regularly. Moreover, it is essential that we bring governments together with the best academics and researchers to be able to evaluate the technologies.
Tech companies must not mark their own homework, just as governments and citizens must have confidence that risks are properly mitigated. Indeed, a large part of this work should be about ensuring faith in the system, and it is only nation states that can provide the most significant national security concern reassurance that has been allayed.
Now that is why I am so proud that the United Kingdom’s world-leading Frontier AI Taskforce has brought together pioneering experts like Yoshua Bengio and Paul Christiano, with the head of GCHQ and our National Security Advisers. It is the first body of its kind in the world that is developing the capacity to conduct the safe external red-teaming that will be critical to building confidence in frontier models. And our ambition is for the Taskforce to evolve to become a permanent institutional structure, with an international offer.
Building this capacity in liberal, democratic countries is important. Many world-beating technologies were developed in nations where expression flows openly and ideas are exchanged freely. A culture of rules and transparency is essential to creativity and innovation, and it is just as essential to making AI safe.
So that, ladies and gentlemen, is the task that confronts us.
It is—in its speed, and its scale, and its potential—unlike anything we—or our predecessors—have known before.
Exciting. Daunting. Inexorable.
So we must work – alongside its pioneers – to understand it, to govern it, to harness its potential, and to contain its risks. We will have to be pioneers too.
We may not know where the risks lie, how we might contain them, or even the fora in which we must determine them. What we do know, however, is that the most powerful action will come when nations work together.
The AI revolution will be a bracing test for the multilateral system, to show that it can work together on a question that will help to define the fate of humanity.
Our future—humanity’s future—our entire planet’s future, depends on our ability to do so.
That is our challenge, and this is our opportunity.
To be – truly – the United Nations.
Singapore
Delivered by Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan (link)
The third point I want to make is that in the midst of the Digital Revolution and especially the advent of artificial intelligence, we must prepare for both the risk and also distribute the benefits of these technologies more fairly. In the past year, generative AI, ChatGPT, has captured popular imagination, but actually we are already on the verge of the next stage: AI agents with the ability to negotiate and transact with each other and with humans, and often you won’t be able to tell the difference. This has profound implications on all our societies, on our politics, and our economies everywhere.
And autonomous weapon systems without human fingers on the trigger are already with us. Witness the wars around us, and as Secretary General Antonio Guterres said at the opening of the General Assembly this week, quote “generative AI holds much promise, but it may also lead us across a rubicon and into more danger than we can control”, unquote, and this is especially so in the theater of war and peace. AI will fundamentally disrupt our assumptions on military doctrine and strategic deterrence. For example, the speed at which AI enable weapon systems can be almost instantaneously deployed and triggered will dramatically reduce decision times for our leaders, and there will be many occasions when humans may not even be in the firing loop, but we will be on the firing line. This would inevitably heighten the risk of unintended conflicts or the escalation of conflicts. During the Cold War, the sense of Mutually Assured Destruction imposed mutual restraint, although we now know in fact there were several close shaves. This specter of nuclear escalation has not disappeared. And yet the advent of artificial intelligence in conflict situations has actually increased the risk exponentially.
So we must start an inclusive global dialogue, and we must start it at the United Nations. We need to urgently consider the oversight of such systems and the necessary precautions to avoid miscalculations. And in fact, this is just one facet of many as we focus our minds on how to harness the potential and to manage the risk of AI.
Singapore welcomes the Secretary General’s decision to convene a high-level advisory body on AI to explore these critical issues. Singapore actually is optimistic that the UN and the multilateral system will be up to the task of establishing norms on these fast-emerging critical technologies. The UN open-ended working group on ICT security, which happens to be chaired by Singapore, has made steady progress and this offers some useful lessons for other areas including AI. Singapore commits to continue to support all efforts to promote international cooperation and to strengthen global rules, norms and principles in the digital domain. We also look forward to the adoption of the global digital compact at the summit of the future in 2024.
Sweden
Delivered by Minister for Foreign Affairs Tobias Billström (link)
Emerging Technologies including artificial intelligence are transforming our world. They offer unprecedented possibilities, including to accelerate our efforts on climate change, global health, and the Sustainable Development Goals. This fast-moving development also entails challenges for international security and human rights. Shaping a shared vision of new technologies based on the values of the UN charter will be key to harness their potential and mitigate the risks. Together with Rwanda, Sweden is co-facilitating the process in the general assembly of developing a Global Digital Compact that will outline shared principles for an open free and secure digital future for all.
Costa Rica
Delivered by Minister for Foreign Affairs Arnoldo Ricardo André Tinoco (link)
We urgently need new governance frameworks for cyber crime and artificial intelligence, as well as cyber security. The militarization of new technologies raises specific problems and challenges. Therefore as per the content of the belaying communique and along with Austria and Mexico, we will be presenting a resolution to the General Assembly on the matter of autonomous weapons systems.
Day 5
Somalia
Delivered by Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre (link)
We see that new technologies such as artificial intelligence pose new and terrifying threats.
Ethiopia
Delivered by Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen Hassen (link)
We should also ensure that new technologies such as artificial intelligence are used responsibly in a manner that benefits humanity.
Indonesia
Delivered by Minister for Foreign Affairs Retno Lestari Priansari Marsudi (link)
Access to safe and secure digital technology for developing countries, including AI, is crucial for future sustainable growth.
Iceland
Delivered by Minister for Foreign Affairs Thórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörd Gylfadóttir (link)
Artificial intelligence asks some serious questions that will demand close multilateral cooperation to avoid the very real risk of this technology becoming a tool of destruction rather than creation. And we must also bear in mind that the promise of human rights and freedom applies to individuals, but does not necessarily extend to state-sponsored propaganda or artificially generated misinformation that is intended to sow discord and disunity. Freedom of expression is for human beings, not for programmed bots that spread hate, lies and fear, because human rights are for human beings.
Venezuela
Delivered by Minister for Foreign Affairs Yvan Gil Pinto (link)
The protection of cyberspace, the fight against cybercrime, the regulation of new information technologies, social media and artificial intelligence, must become a strategic priority for the United Nations. If we truly advocate for the defense of human rights and democratic principles, we must promote fair and equitable regulation that prevents the concentration of these new tools in the hands of a few, driven by their interests and control. We cannot accept the use of these new technologies to destabilize legitimate governments and destroy social harmony and peace.
Day 6
Holy See
Delivered by Secretary for Relations with States Archbishop Paul Gallagher (link)
Another important challenge which we have at hand could be defined, more generally, as the expanding digital galaxy we inhabit, and specifically artificial intelligence. There is an urgent need to engage in serious ethical reflection on the use and integration of supercomputer systems and processes in our daily lives. We must be vigilant and work to ensure that the discriminatory use of these instruments does not take root at the expense of the most fragile and excluded. It is not acceptable that the decision about someone’s life and future be entrusted to an algorithm. This is valid in all situations, also in the development and use of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems.
Recently, a growing number of legal and ethical concerns have been raised, about the use of LAWS in armed conflicts. It is clear that their use should be in line with the international humanitarian law.
The Holy See supports the establishment of an International Organization for Artificial Intelligence, aimed at facilitating the fullest possible exchange of scientific and technological information for peaceful uses and for the promotion of the common good and integral human development.
Nicaragua
Delivered by Minister for Foreign Affairs Denis Ronaldo Moncada Colindres (link)
In the face of all the advances in science, technologies, techniques, including those pretentiously called “artificial intelligence” as if not themselves the fruit of human intelligence, Nicaragua demands the full participation of the peoples who have made possible with our blood and resources, these advances of the conquerors. We demand what is ours: the right to fully live this development improving the conditions of labor, study and life, by right of our peoples. At the same time as we propose inclusion, Nicaragua also proposes the rational beneficial use of these resources of humanity, which in the hands of the malevolent constitute weapons of mass destruction against countries, peoples and communities.
Canada
Delivered by Ambassador to the United Nations Bob Rae (link)
[Canadians] are also concerned about artificial intelligence, foreign interference, misinformation, and disinformation.