Speaking ahead of next week's UN General Assembly gathering in New York, Guterres told reporters the need for stronger oversight would be a major focus of his talks with global leaders coming to the city.
"We cannot afford to ignore concerns that have been raised, especially by those on the front lines of the development of AI," said Guterres. "It’s the first responsibility of any government to protect its citizens – including from the threats of artificial intelligence."
Guterres said the countries with the greatest capacity at the frontiers of AI "should establish mechanisms of contact, of exchange of information and some common guardrails in order to avoid this race to the bottom that could lead one day to a gigantic disaster at the global level."
"We need a shared understanding of how to advance the safe, secure and responsible development of AI – while identifying when increasingly powerful systems may require stronger safeguards, or additional measures to manage potential risks," Guterres said.
Public alarm about the potential danger posed by AI is growing, after Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon said last week he had resigned, in part because "people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade."
Leaders of some of the industry's largest companies called for slowing the pace of the technology's development. The UN Security Council may also meet next week on AI during the annual gathering of world leaders in New York.
