Artificial intelligence has joined the ranks of global challenges commanding the attention of world leaders at this week’s high-level United Nations gathering.
Since the launch of ChatGPT three years ago, AI’s rapid advances have astonished the world and spurred a race among tech companies to build ever more powerful systems. At the same time, experts have warned of grave risks, from engineered pandemics and mass disinformation to the possibility of rogue AI systems spiraling out of control. Calls for safeguards have grown louder.
The UN’s adoption of a new governance framework marks its most ambitious step yet to rein in the technology. Earlier international efforts, including summits hosted by Britain, South Korea and France, produced only non-binding pledges.
Last month, the General Assembly approved the creation of two new bodies on AI: a global forum and an independent scientific panel of experts. The move is seen as a milestone in efforts to establish international oversight.
On Wednesday, the UN Security Council will hold an open debate on AI, focusing on how the technology can be applied responsibly in line with international law and how it might support peace processes and conflict prevention.
The following day, Secretary-General António Guterres will formally launch the Global Dialogue on AI Governance, a forum designed to foster international cooperation and exchange ideas. The forum will meet in Geneva in 2026 and in New York in 2027.
Recruitment is also set to begin for 40 members of the scientific panel, including two co-chairs one from a developed country and one from a developing nation. The panel has already drawn comparisons to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and its influential COP summits.
Isabella Wilkinson, a research fellow at Chatham House, described the new bodies as “a symbolic triumph” and “by far the world’s most globally inclusive approach to governing AI.”
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