Geneva, January 17 (EFECOM). – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned today at the Davos Forum of the risks posed by the current development of artificial intelligence in the hands of technology companies “ruthless in their pursuit of profit.” Indifference to human rights.
These companies also do not take into account individual privacy or the social impact of these advances, said Guterres, who explained in his speech at the Forum of Political, Economic and Business Leaders that “each new improvement in generative AI increases the risk of serious consequences.” “involuntary”.
Guterres even went so far as to suggest that the unlimited development of artificial intelligence is one of the “existential threats” facing the world today, along with global warming, after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned in a recent report that the technology will increase the inequality.
However, the UN chief emphasized that artificial intelligence also has the potential to contribute to sustainable development, that is, the development of governance systems that are adapted to today's world and can create multilateral networks.
He also recalled that the United Nations Advisory Panel on Artificial Intelligence had issued preliminary recommendations on its use “to reap the benefits of this incredible technology while mitigating its risks.”
“We urgently need governments to work with technology companies to create risk management networks for the current development of AI, networks that control and monitor future harm,” he said.
He also called for developing countries to have better access to this new technology “so that they can benefit from its enormous potential, because we need to reduce the digital divide rather than widen it.”
With regard to the other major challenge mentioned at the beginning of his speech, climate change, the Secretary-General stressed the need to advance the transition to renewable energies, asserting that “the abandonment of fossil fuels is essential and unavoidable”.
With that in mind, Guterres took aim at the fossil fuel industry, which “just launched another multibillion-dollar campaign to undermine progress and keep oil and gas flowing indefinitely.”
The Secretary-General warned that at the current rate of emissions, the planet is heading for a three-degree increase in average global temperature compared to pre-industrial levels, much higher than the danger limit (1.5 degrees) set out in the Paris Agreement. .
Given the major challenges posed by issues such as AI and climate change, Guterres assured, the world still lacks a global strategy to address them due to geopolitical divisions.
Because of this lack of leadership, “it is not surprising that people around the world are losing trust in governments, institutions and financial and economic systems,” Guterres lamented in a forum whose theme this year is precisely “rebuilding trust.”
To alleviate this credibility crisis, Guterres today proposed “building a new global multipolar order with new leadership opportunities, with balance and justice in international relations.” EFECOM
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