Science and Technology

As leaders and diplomats from around 130 countries gather in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) high-level week, one of the biggest topics of discussion is the risk posed by artificial intelligence and the U.N.’s role in mitigating that risk. The summit comes amid troubling instances in recent months of rogue AI models hacking companies and AI executives warning that they need more guardrails around a technology they worry they can no longer contain.

Amandeep Singh Gill has spent years thinking about these issues in his role as the U.N. undersecretary-general and special envoy for digital and emerging technologies, heading a division that oversees the multilateral institution’s global dialogue on AI governance and its independent international scientific panel on AI.

As leaders and diplomats from around 130 countries gather in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) high-level week, one of the biggest topics of discussion is the risk posed by artificial intelligence and the U.N.’s role in mitigating that risk. The summit comes amid troubling instances in recent months of rogue AI models hacking companies and AI executives warning that they need more guardrails around a technology they worry they can no longer contain.

Amandeep Singh Gill has spent years thinking about these issues in his role as the U.N. undersecretary-general and special envoy for digital and emerging technologies, heading a division that oversees the multilateral institution’s global dialogue on AI governance and its independent international scientific panel on AI.

Gill hosted a “Digital Cooperation Day” at UNGA on Monday to discuss how countries can collaborate on AI opportunities and risk management. He sat down with Foreign Policy to discuss fears around the technology, the role of the United States and China, and how his previous experience with nuclear disarmament informs his thinking about AI risk.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Foreign Policy: How much has the sudden shift in the debate around AI’s existential risk changed the conversations you were planning to have this week?

Amandeep Singh Gill: I think it has not changed the trajectory, but I would say it has focused minds. The scientific panel, its report on July 1 already mentioned that we cannot guarantee that human control will be retained as autonomous systems start to........

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