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UN Rights Chief Urges Urgent Action Over Rising AI Risks
(MENAFN) UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on Monday called on governments and leading artificial intelligence companies to take immediate measures to address the risks associated with increasingly powerful AI systems, warning that rapid technological advances could have consequences extending across societies and future generations.
“We are on the cusp of irreversible change, affecting not just us but generations of humanity to come,” Turk said in a letter addressed to governments and AI developers.
Turk warned that the global race to build more capable AI systems is increasing what he described as “greater existential risks.” He specifically raised concerns about agentic AI, referring to systems that can perform tasks with limited human intervention, and said failures involving such technology could disrupt essential services, communications and critical infrastructure.
“Entire populations could be cut off from clean water, heating, and financial services,” Turk said, adding that artificial intelligence is already contributing to the acceleration of warfare and weakening safeguards designed to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction.
The UN rights chief also stressed that the potential damage associated with AI is no longer limited to future scenarios. He pointed to the growing use of automation in essential services, extensive data collection and surveillance practices, and the spread of disinformation generated or amplified through AI technologies.
“AI harms are not hypothetical — they are already occurring, front and centre,” he said.
Turk called on governments and companies developing frontier AI systems to establish shared safety standards and conduct continuous assessments of the technology’s potential impact on human rights. He also urged the creation of independent monitoring mechanisms capable of examining how advanced AI systems operate and identifying risks as they emerge.
He further called on countries that host major AI companies to ensure those firms can be held accountable for the systems they develop. According to Turk, AI systems capable of acting autonomously should also be subjected to independent technical assessments before their capabilities create wider risks.
“No country can govern this technology alone. No company should be able to decide by itself which risks the world must accept. No person should be required to surrender their human rights in exchange for claims of technological progress,” Turk said.
The UN official urged governments and technology companies to use multilateral institutions and international forums to establish rules governing advanced AI. He said any future framework should be grounded in international human rights law and should ensure that technological development does not come at the expense of fundamental rights.
His warning comes amid growing concern within the technology sector following recent incidents involving AI agents that demonstrated capabilities beyond what many experts had previously expected. Those developments have prompted industry figures and other experts to call for stronger oversight and tighter regulation as increasingly autonomous AI systems move closer to widespread deployment.
“We are on the cusp of irreversible change, affecting not just us but generations of humanity to come,” Turk said in a letter addressed to governments and AI developers.
Turk warned that the global race to build more capable AI systems is increasing what he described as “greater existential risks.” He specifically raised concerns about agentic AI, referring to systems that can perform tasks with limited human intervention, and said failures involving such technology could disrupt essential services, communications and critical infrastructure.
“Entire populations could be cut off from clean water, heating, and financial services,” Turk said, adding that artificial intelligence is already contributing to the acceleration of warfare and weakening safeguards designed to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction.
The UN rights chief also stressed that the potential damage associated with AI is no longer limited to future scenarios. He pointed to the growing use of automation in essential services, extensive data collection and surveillance practices, and the spread of disinformation generated or amplified through AI technologies.
“AI harms are not hypothetical — they are already occurring, front and centre,” he said.
Turk called on governments and companies developing frontier AI systems to establish shared safety standards and conduct continuous assessments of the technology’s potential impact on human rights. He also urged the creation of independent monitoring mechanisms capable of examining how advanced AI systems operate and identifying risks as they emerge.
He further called on countries that host major AI companies to ensure those firms can be held accountable for the systems they develop. According to Turk, AI systems capable of acting autonomously should also be subjected to independent technical assessments before their capabilities create wider risks.
“No country can govern this technology alone. No company should be able to decide by itself which risks the world must accept. No person should be required to surrender their human rights in exchange for claims of technological progress,” Turk said.
The UN official urged governments and technology companies to use multilateral institutions and international forums to establish rules governing advanced AI. He said any future framework should be grounded in international human rights law and should ensure that technological development does not come at the expense of fundamental rights.
His warning comes amid growing concern within the technology sector following recent incidents involving AI agents that demonstrated capabilities beyond what many experts had previously expected. Those developments have prompted industry figures and other experts to call for stronger oversight and tighter regulation as increasingly autonomous AI systems move closer to widespread deployment.
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