AI panel races against time

When I mentioned “Artificial Intelligence” in my first address to the opening of the General Assembly in 2017, only two other world leaders even uttered the term.

Today, AI is advancing at lightning speed — reshaping economies and societies.

And for those who think we are moving too fast, I would only say that never in the future will we move as slow as we are moving now. We are indeed in a high level of acceleration.

No country, no company, and no field of research can see the full picture alone because today AI is reshaping economies and societies.

As an engineer, I share your conviction that science and facts matter. And as a longtime politician and diplomat, I have seen how quickly fear can take hold when facts are missing or distorted — how trust breaks down and division deepens.

The world urgently needs a shared, global understanding of artificial intelligence;

Grounded not in ideology, but in science;

Not in fake news, but in knowledge.

That is where you (Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence) come in.

Your role is to bring independent, credible science into the global conversation — and to do so at a time when geopolitical tensions are rising, conflicts are raging, and the stakes for safe and responsible AI could not be greater.

In this fractured context, an unbiased and trusted understanding of AI is essential.

Dear Panel members, your mandate is intentionally broad — spanning from frontier systems to the impacts already unfolding across societies and economies.

AI will shape peace and security, human rights and sustainable development, the three areas of intervention of the United Nations for decades to come. Your work will help decision-makers move from competing claims to shared facts — and from shared facts to workable solutions:

Building effective guardrails; Unlocking innovation for the common good; And strengthening international cooperation.

Like AI itself, this Panel is in a race against time.

In the span of a few months, you will establish your working methods; set priorities, form focused working groups, and deliver a substantive, evidence-based assessment.

This work will inform the first annual Global Dialogue on AI Governance — co-chaired by Ambassador Egriselda López of El Salvador and Ambassador Rein Tammsaar of Estonia.

Your first report will be a reference point for that Dialogue — and it will set the standard for what follows.

You are not starting from zero. Before you, the UN High-Level Advisory Body on AI demonstrated that despite differences of perspective and approach, it was possible to produce clear and concrete recommendations — including the creation of this very Panel.

Their work was policy-oriented. Yours is scientific — a disciplined foundation that others can build on.

Let me underscore one final point: all members serve in their personal capacity — providing scientific assessments independent of any government, company or institution, including the United Nations.

Grounded in conflict-of-interest safeguards, this scientific independence will help ensure that the Panel’s advice remains impartial and trusted.

(Excerpts of United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the First Meeting of the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence in New York on 3 March 2026.)