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Artificial intelligence and international peace and security - Security Council, 10005th meeting
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a “double-edged sword”, speakers told the Security Council today, holding tremendous latent power to benefit the world and drive the Sustainable Development Goals — while its misuse or weaponization, especially in the military sphere, could also pose an existential threat to humanity.
AI is “no longer a distant horizon” said António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations — it is here, “transforming daily life, the information space and the global economy at breathtaking speed”. Used responsibly, AI can strengthen prevention and protection in myriad ways including anticipating food insecurity, supporting demining and helping identify potential outbreaks of violence. However, “without guardrails, it can also be weaponized”, he stressed. Citing AI-enabled cyberattacks that can disrupt critical infrastructure in minutes and threats to information integrity, he emphasized: “Innovation must serve humanity — not undermine it.”
“Humanity’s fate cannot be left to an algorithm,” he stressed. Urging the Council and Member States to ensure that human control and judgment are preserved in every use of force, he again called for a ban on lethal autonomous weapons systems operating without human control, with a legally binding instrument by 2026. Similarly, any decision in nuclear weapon use “must rest with humans — not machines”, he stressed.
The high-level open debate aims to provide a platform for Member States to exchange views on the evolving role of artificial intelligence in the context of international peace and security.
More specifically, the debate seeks to:
Encourage high-level reflection and discussion on how the international community can collectively maximize the benefits of artificial intelligence while minimizing its risks in the context of international peace and security;
Invite Member States to share their approaches to the responsible development, deployment, and use of artificial intelligence including its application in the military domain;
Consider the potential role of the Security Council, as the principal body mandated by the Charter of the United Nations to uphold international peace and security, in harnessing the opportunities created by artificial intelligence while mitigating the risks associated therewith.
The open debate aims to support the Security Council's continued endeavors to foster a shared understanding of the opportunities and challenges associated with artificial intelligence, and reaffirm the importance of international cooperation in guiding its development and use.
- Presidency: Lee Jae Myung, President, Republic of Korea
- Briefer: António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations
- Statement: Yoshua Bengio, Université de Montréal, Co-President and Scientific Director, LawZero and Founder and Scientific Advisor, Mila-Quebec AI Institute (via video-teleconference)
- Briefer: Yejin Choi, Dieter Schwarz Foundation Professor of Computer Science and Senior Fellow, Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence
Statements:
- President of the Council (as President of the Republic of Korea)
- Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, President, Federal Republic of Somalia
- Nataša Pirc Musar, President, Republic of Slovenia
- Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister, Greece
- David Lammy, Deputy Prime Minister, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- Ahmed Attaf, Minister of State, Minister of Foreign Affairs, National Community Abroad and African Affairs, Algeria
- Hugh Hilton Todd, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Guyana
- Javier Martínez Acha Vásquez, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Panama
- Musa Timothy Kabba, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Sierra Leone
- Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Minister for Defence, Pakistan
- Ma Zhaoxu, Executive Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, China
- Michael Kratsios, Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, United States of America
- Denmark
- Russian Federation
- France
- Karol Nawrocki, President, Republic of Poland
- Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, President, Portuguese Republic
- Aidarous Qassem Abdulaziz Al-Zubaidi, Vice-President, Republic of Yemen
- Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka, Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Civil Service and Public Enterprises, and Information, Republic of Fiji
- Ervin Ibrahimović, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Montenegro
- Hendrikus Wilhelmus Maria (Dick) Schoof, Prime Minister, Kingdom of the Netherlands
- Sadyr Zhaparov, President, Kyrgyz Republic
- Abdellah Ben Mellouk, Director General of Multilateral Issues, Morocco
- Pharidh Kan, Secretary of State, Cambodia
- Lutfey Yasser Siddiqi, Special Envoy on International Affairs to the Chief Adviser, Bangladesh
- Martin Frick, Director of the Office of Foreign Affairs, Liechtenstein
The meeting was suspended.
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