The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk,\nhas warned that artificial intelligence (AI) could pose a threat to\nhumankind. Turk pledged to press AI companies to mitigate the risks that\nartificial intelligence may pose to humans.<\/p>\n
The risks Turk referred to include disruption to services,\ncommunications and democratic systems.<\/p>\n
Speaking before the UN Human Rights Council in session in Geneva,\nSwitzerland, as reported by Reuters on Tuesday (8\/9\/2026), Turk called\nfor \u201cvery robust guarantees\u201d to ensure the safety of AI.<\/p>\n
\u201cI share the concerns of industry figures that sophisticated AI could\npose an existential risk to humankind,\u201d Turk said in his address on\nMonday (7\/9).<\/p>\n
\u201cHere, today, I call for every effort to be made to establish very\nrobust guarantees relating to AI safety and security, before it is too\nlate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Turk did not specify the nature of the risks he cited. However, a\nspokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights\nexplained that failures involving highly sophisticated AI systems could\ndisrupt vital infrastructure and democratic institutions.<\/p>\n
The spokesperson referred to \u201cdangerous agent training behaviour\u201d in\nthe Hugging Face incident last July, when a group of OpenAI agents\nhacked the open-source platform. He said this indicated that\ncutting-edge AI capabilities had developed faster than the safeguards in\nplace.<\/p>\n
In his address, Turk also warned that only a handful of people held\n\u201calmost unlimited power over AI\u201d. He did not specifically name the\nindividuals concerned.<\/p>\n
Leading AI companies currently include Meta, Anthropic, OpenAI and\nGoogle.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the very least, we need the states where AI operates and the\nparties involved in its supply chain to unite around agreed red lines,\u201d\nTurk said.<\/p>\n
In his speech, he also demanded accountability for deaths in United\nStates immigration detention and condemned reports of Russia\u2019s use of\nautonomous drones.<\/p>\n
Turk won a second four-year term in a UN General Assembly vote last\nJuly, despite opposition from the US and Russia.<\/p>\n
The UN Human Rights Council will remain in session until 7 October to\ndiscuss various issues, including the Iran war, the civil conflict in\nSudan and a series of other crises.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/un-warns-ai-could-pose-a-threat-to-humankind-1788850412", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }