Tuesday marked the first meeting of the UN Security Council on artificial intelligence, during which China said the technology should not become a "runaway horse" while the United States warned against its usage to censor or oppress people.
AI might "fundamentally alter every aspect of human life," according to James Cleverly, the British Foreign Secretary, who chaired the summit while Britain held the presidency of the body in July.
“We urgently need to shape the global governance of transformative technologies because AI knows no borders," he added after saying that AI has the potential to boost economies and combat climate change. He did, however, voice a warning that the technology feeds misinformation and may help both state-sponsored and non-state groups in their quest for weapons.
The 15-member council was briefed by, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Jack Clark, co-founder of well-known AI firm Anthropic, and Professor Zeng Yi, co-director of the China-UK Research Centre for AI Ethics and Governance.
“Both military and non-military applications of AI could have very serious consequences for global peace and security," Guterres said.
According to some states, a new U.N. body should be established "to support collective efforts to govern this extraordinary technology," and it should be modeled on the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the International Atomic Energy Agency, or the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. António Guterres supported these proposals.
Zhang Jun, China's ambassador to the UN, referred to artificial intelligence as a "double-edged sword" and stated that Beijing supports the U.N. playing a key coordination role in developing guiding principles for AI.
"Whether it is good or bad, good or evil, depends on how mankind utilizes it, regulates it, and how we balance scientific development with security," Zhang said, adding that there should be a focus on people and AI for good to regulate development and to "prevent this technology from becoming a runaway horse."
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