UN Secretary-General calls for establishment of watchdog to monitor AI

New York [US], June 13 : United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his support for the establishment of an international watchdog similar to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to oversee the monitoring of Artificial Intelligence (AI), reported Al Jazeera.

The United Nations secretary-general has warned that artificial intelligence (AI) is being used to spread disinformation and hate and said that while technological advancement has been used for some good, the risks posed by AI threatens democracy and human rights.

Generative AI technology - which can perform natural language processing tasks such as answering questions, summarising text and even generating lines of code - has captivated the public since ChatGPT launched six months ago, as per Al Jazeera.

"Alarm bells over the latest form of artificial intelligence - generative AI - are deafening. And they are loudest from the developers who designed it," Guterres told reporters. "These 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."

The AI can generate images and videos that can mimic people which has become a focus of concerning issue over its potential to create misinformation and deep fakes.

Guterres has announced plans to start work by the end of the year on a high-level AI advisory body to regularly review AI governance arrangements and offer recommendations on how they can align with human rights, the rule of law and common good.

"I would be favorable to the idea that we could have an artificial intelligence agency ... inspired by what the international agency of atomic energy is today," Guterres added on Monday.

He supported the plan for a summit in Britain and said that it should be preceded by 'serious work'. In the next few days, he plans to appoint a scientific advisory board of AI experts and chief scientists from UN agencies," Guterres said, according to Al Jazeera.

Guterres said he supported the plan for a summit in Britain and added it should be preceded by "serious work". He said that, in the coming days, he plans to appoint a scientific advisory board of AI experts and chief scientists from UN agencies.

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