UN Secretary-General Supports Creation of International AI Oversight Agency Inspired by IAEA

On Monday, Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, expressed his support for a suggestion made by a group of artificial intelligence executives, led by Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, to establish a global regulatory body for AI, similar to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

A generative AI technology that can spin authoritative prose from text prompts, ChatGPT has taken audiences by storm since its launch six months ago, becoming the fastest-growing app of all time. AI has also raised concerns about its ability to create deep fake images and other misinformation.

“The alarm bells of the latest form of artificial intelligence — generative artificial intelligence — are ringing. And they are loudest from the developers who designed it,” Guterres told reporters. “We have to take those warnings seriously.”

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

But on Monday, he added: “I would support the idea that we could have an artificial intelligence agency … inspired by what the International Atomic Energy Agency is today.”

Guterres said such a model could be “very interesting”, but noted that “only member states can create it, not the UN Secretariat”. Founded in 1957, the Vienna-based IAEA promotes the safe and peaceful use of nuclear technology while monitoring potential violations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). It has 176 member states.

Altman, the creator of ChatGPT and CEO of OpenAI, said last month that a body like the IAEA could set limits on deployment, enforce compliance with security standards and monitor the use of computing power.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has also supported the idea and said he wants Britain to be the home of a global AI safety code. Britain is scheduled to hold a summit later this year on how coordinated international action can tackle the risks of artificial intelligence.

Guterres said he supported the plan for a UK summit but said there was “serious work” ahead. He said he plans to appoint a scientific advisory board made up of artificial intelligence experts and chief scientists from UN agencies in the coming days.