UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed the importance of ensuring human control of artificial intelligence (AI) over the use of force.
"Let us be clear: humanity's fate cannot be left to an algorithm. Humans must always retain authority over life-and-death decisions, " he told on Wednesday (local time) in an open debate of the Security Council on AI and international peace and security.
The Security Council and UN member states must ensure that military use of AI remains in full compliance with international law and the UN Charter. Human control and judgment must be preserved in every use of force, he said.
AI is no longer a distant horizon. It is here, transforming daily life, the information space, and the global economy at breathtaking speed. The question is not whether AI will influence international peace and security, but how the world will shape that influence, said Guterres.
Without guardrails, AI can be weaponised. AI-enabled cyberattacks can disrupt or destroy critical infrastructure in minutes. The ability to fabricate and manipulate audio and video threatens information integrity, fuels polarisation, and can trigger diplomatic crises. And the massive energy and water demands of large-scale models, coupled with competition over critical minerals, are creating new drivers of tension, he warned.
Guterres said coherent global regulatory frameworks for AI must be in place, Xinhua news agency reported.
Governments, platforms, media and civil society must cooperate to detect and deter AI-generated deception -- from disinformation campaigns to deepfakes targeting peace processes, humanitarian access and elections, he said.