"Malicious use of AI could cause ‘unimaginable’ damage, says UN boss", 18 July 2023

Malicious use of artificial intelligence systems could cause a “horrific” amount of death and destruction, the UN secretary general has said, calling for a new UN body to tackle the threats posed by the technology.

António Guterres said harmful use of AI for terrorist, criminal or state purposes could also cause “deep psychological damage”, and he said AI-enabled cyber-attacks were already targeting UN peacekeeping and humanitarian operations.

Speaking at the first UN security council session on AI, he said the advent of generative AI – the term for AI tools such as ChatGPT that produce convincing text, image and voice from human prompts – could be a defining moment for disinformation and hate speech and add a “new dimension” to the manipulation of human behaviour.

Guterres called for the creation of a new UN entity along the lines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to tackle the risks. “The overarching goal of this body would be to support countries to maximise the benefits of AI for good, to mitigate existing and potential risks, and to establish and administer internationally agreed mechanisms of monitoring and governance,” he said.

The UK chaired the session, and its foreign secretary, James Cleverly, opened the proceedings with a call for global governance of AI.

The UK has convened a global AI safety summit in the autumn, and the chair of the UK government’s AI Foundation Model taskforce said on Tuesday that current AI systems still required further investigation by experts.

Speaking at an event hosted by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, Hogarth said AI could also be a force for good. ...adding that a malicious actor in the field could also threaten national security.