Geneva, Switzerland. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Monday that artificial intelligence is advancing faster than regulators and developers can manage, and called for globally harmonised rules to reduce risks, especially for children.
Call for global guardrails
Speaking to delegates at the first government-level global dialogue on AI in Geneva, Guterres said the technology could reshape economies, transform work, influence elections and affect security.
He said AI was being deployed faster than anyone, including those building it, could keep up with, and told delegates that innovation needed guardrails and that powerful AI must be governed.
Purpose of the Geneva meeting
The two-day inaugural U.N. Global Dialogue on AI Governance is not intended to produce a treaty, but to discuss how rules can be set to limit the potential harms of AI while making use of its opportunities.
Delegates are set to consider a report by a U.N.-backed independent scientific panel of 40 experts, presenting findings from what was described as the first global, independent scientific assessment of AI.
A more comprehensive report is planned for next year, alongside a second global meeting in New York.
Focus on children
Guterres said globally harmonised AI rules must give priority to child safety, citing examples of minors being directed toward self-harm and being misled by machines posing as friends.
He said AI had reached children through learning, friendships and private questions before its effects on them had been properly examined.
Proposed safety measures
Guterres called for an AI Child Safety Pledge under which companies developing AI systems would have to demonstrate they are safe before making them available to children.
He also said systems should not be allowed to generate sexual images of children and should stop interactions and connect a child to a human for help when signs of distress are detected.