UN chief says AI danger alarm bells 'are deafening'

UN Secretary General António Guterres has issued a warning of the dangers of artificial intelligence and called for the creation of a regulatory body.

"Alarm bells over the latest form of artificial intelligence – generative AI – are deafening," Guterres said at a press conference in New York on Monday.

"Scientists and experts have called on the world to act, declaring AI an existential threat to humanity on a par with the risk of nuclear war. We must take those warnings seriously," he said.

Guterres presented a position paper in which the United Nations makes proposals on how to deal with AI worldwide and announced plans to create a high-level advisory body on the issue.

He also said that he supported the establishment of a regulatory authority, but that it could not be set up by him alone, only in partnership with the UN member states.

He suggested that such an authority could be inspired by what the International Atomic Energy Agency is today.