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STORY: UN / ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PEACE SECURITY
TRT: 04:40
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / FRENCH / KOREAN / NATS
DATELINE: 24 SEPTEMBER 2024, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, United Nations headquarters
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“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 we will shape that influence.”
4. Wide shot, Security Council
5. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“But without guardrails, it can also be weaponized. Recent conflicts have become testing grounds for AI-powered targeting and autonomy.”
6. Wide shot, Security Council
7. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“We must ensure human control over the use of force. Let us be clear: humanity’s fate cannot be left to an algorithm.”
8. Wide shot, Security Council
9. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“We must build coherent global regulatory frameworks. From design to deployment to decommissioning, AI systems must always comply with international law.”
10. Wide shot, Security Council
11. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“We must protect information integrity in situations of conflict and insecurity.
The UN Global Principles for Information Integrity provide a foundation for coordinated action.”
12. Wide shot, Security Council
13. SOUNDBITE (French) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Fourth and finally, we must close the AI capacity gap. Technology can accelerate sustainable development, foster stability and peace. We must create space for all nations to shape our AI future.”
14. Wide shot, Security Council
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Yoshua Bengio, Université de Montréal, Co-President and Scientific Director, LawZero, Founder and Scientific Advisor, Mila–Quebec AI Institute:
“Some AIs could surpass most humans across most cognitive tasks in as little as five years, maybe ten years. This would be a radical change in the history of mankind.”
16. Wide shot, Security Council
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Yejin Choi, Dieter Schwarz Foundation Professor of Computer Science and Senior Fellow, Stanford University Institute for Human-Centered AI:
“If AI is to benefit humanity, access must be the north star. That means pushing the frontier along two dimensions. The first dimension is building AI that is smaller. If we really want to “democratize” AI, we must rethink our dependence on massive-scale data and computing resources from the outset, and design methods that do more with less.”
18. Wide shot, Security Council
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Yejin Choi, Dieter Schwarz Foundation Professor of Computer “Science and Senior Fellow, Stanford University Institute for Human-Centered AI:
“The second dimension is ensuring AI systems represent and serve all communities. We should re-center what truly matters to humanity: linguistic diversity, cultural breadth, and pluralistic values.”
20. Wide shot, Security Council
21. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Lee Jae Myung, President, Republic of Korea:
“As I listened, I was reminded of the words of Professor Geoffrey Hinton, who once said that today’s AI is like “a very cute tiger cub.” This tiger cub before us may well grow into a predator that devours us, or it may become a beloved companion like Derpy from KPop Demon Hunters. A knife in the hands of a chef is a tool that brings joy to others; but the same knife in the hands of a robber is nothing more than a menacing weapon to cause harm. AI, in particular, will bring the most disruptive innovation to the way we process knowledge and information. And it may soon be able to judge and decide for itself like a human being. Therefore, an entirely different future will unfold 2 before us depending on how wisely we choose to wield this tool called AI.”
22. Wide shot, Security Council
23. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Kratsios, Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, United States:
“We believe broad over-regulation incentivizes centralization, stifles innovation and increases the danger that these tools will be used for tyranny and conquest. Ideological fixations on social equity, climate catastrophism, and so-called existential risk are dangers to progress and obstacles to responsibly harnessing this technology as an extension of human ingenuity and capacities.”
24. Wide shot, Security-Council
Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council, “The question is not whether AI will influence international peace and security, but how we will shape that influence.”
Today (24 Sep), the Council convened for a high-level open debate on artificial intelligence under the agenda item Maintenance of international peace and security. The meeting, chaired by Republic of Korea President Lee Jae Myung, marked the country’s signature event during its September presidency.
The Secretary-General stressed both the promise and perils of AI, cautioning that “without guardrails, it can also be weaponized. Recent conflicts have become testing grounds for AI-powered targeting and autonomy.”
He underscored that “humanity’s fate cannot be left to an algorithm.” The Secretary-General called for “coherent” global regulatory frameworks to ensure AI complies with international law throughout its life cycle. He also urged protection of information integrity in conflict settings, highlighting the UN Global Principles for Information Integrity, and pressed for closing the global AI capacity gap: “We must create space for all nations to shape our AI future.”
Yoshua Bengio of Université de Montréal warned that some AIs could surpass most humans across most cognitive tasks in as little as five-ten years. “This would be a radical change in the history of mankind,” he said.
Yejin Choi of Stanford University’s Institute for Human-Centered AI said that equitable access should guide AI’s development. “If AI is to benefit humanity, access must be the north star,” she said, noting that true democratization required designing methods that “do more with less.” Choi added that systems must represent and serve all communities, reflecting “linguistic diversity, cultural breadth, and pluralistic values.”
Council president Lee Jae Myung citing AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton, said current technology was like “a very cute tiger cub” that could grow into either a predator or a companion. “A knife in the hands of a chef is a tool that brings joy to others; but the same knife in the hands of a robber is nothing more than a menacing weapon to cause harm,” he said. He said artificial intelligence would likely transform how humanity understands and manages knowledge, adding that the direction of the future would depend on how responsibly the technology is used.
Michael Kratsios, Assistant to the US President and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy said, “We believe broad over-regulation incentivizes centralization, stifles innovation and increases the danger that these tools will be used for tyranny and conquest. Ideological fixations on social equity, climate catastrophism, and so-called existential risk are dangers to progress and obstacles to responsibly harnessing this technology as an extension of human ingenuity and capacities.”
