UN Unveils First Global AI Assessment Report

AI is currently revolutionising multiple industries, including smartphones.

The United Nations on Wednesday unveiled the first global independent scientific assessment of artificial intelligence (AI), highlighting both its transformative potential and growing risks while calling for urgent global cooperation and governance.

The report, produced by a pioneering UN expert panel, provides scientific evidence and policy options for managing AI’s opportunities, risks and impacts across societies and economies.

It examines seven key areas: AI science and technological advances, applications in health, education and agriculture, economic impacts, security and environmental implications, human rights and democracy, cultural benefits and child safety, and governance and reliability.

“The science is here,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said at the launch.

“We can no longer say we did not know. What we do with it is now up to all of us.”

Guterres warned that as AI advances without shared global rules, governments and people risk losing influence over its direction and impact.

“My message to governments is simple: do not wait,” he said.

The report aims to build a shared global understanding at a critical moment, as AI adoption accelerates rapidly worldwide. More than one billion people now use conversational AI tools each week, while governments face major policy decisions amid uncertainty and conflicting evidence.

Guterres said AI has enormous potential to accelerate development and address global challenges.

“Used well, AI could be the most powerful engine for development, speeding the world’s progress on everything from health and hunger to learning and climate,” he said.

However, he also warned that the technology carries serious risks if left unchecked.

The panel, composed of 40 scientists and experts from around the world, warned that AI capabilities are advancing faster than scientific understanding and governments’ ability to regulate them.

Panel co-chair Yoshua Bengio said current safeguards are struggling to keep pace.

“AI capabilities are outpacing both scientific understanding and governments’ ability to adapt,” Bengio said.

He warned that growing evidence of deceptive AI behaviour raises serious concerns.

“With growing evidence of deceptive AI behaviour, science currently cannot guarantee that as capabilities continue to increase, AI will not cause catastrophic harm, either on its own or due to malicious users,” he said.

Despite concerns, the report highlighted major AI breakthroughs, including earlier breast cancer detection, faster vaccine development and improved healthcare services.

At the same time, it identified major disparities in AI adoption and access.

The report found AI adoption is expanding rapidly but unevenly across countries and sectors, with the Global South lagging far behind the Global North. Significant gaps in computing infrastructure and AI model development continue to reflect and reinforce existing global inequalities.

Development remains highly concentrated in a few countries. The report estimates the United States accounts for 75 percent of computing power among the world’s top 500 AI supercomputers, while China holds 15 percent. Companies from these two countries develop nearly all leading general-purpose AI models.

The report also warned of growing risks tied to AI systems, including cybersecurity threats, disinformation, fraud and loss of human control over highly autonomous systems.

Panel co-chair Maria Ressa said risks to societies and global security are already dangerously high.

“The technology is transformative, but if the world keeps moving along this trajectory, humanity will fail to realise the gains it promises,” she said.

The report noted there are still no scientific guarantees that advanced AI systems will consistently follow human instructions. It also highlighted growing evidence of AI systems reinforcing harmful beliefs, assisting cybercriminals and being used for malicious purposes.

Many of these harms disproportionately affect already vulnerable populations.

The report stressed that effective governance is essential to minimise risks and maximise benefits.

It called for stronger investments in national capacity, policy development and international cooperation to ensure AI is deployed safely and equitably.

Amandeep Gill said the report provides a shared scientific foundation for policymakers.

“AI will not close divides by itself,” he said.

Gill warned that AI benefits are concentrated where institutions, data and technical capacity already exist. Without intervention, the technology could deepen inequality, displace workers and leave vulnerable communities increasingly dependent on systems built without their interests in mind.

The report’s findings will be presented to governments at the inaugural UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance in Geneva on July 6 and 7.