Quantum Tech & AI: UN Security Council Weighs Risks and Rewards

The Security Council examines how rapid scientific developments may influence global security and peacekeeping efforts.| UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

By: ATN News

UNHQ, New York: On Tuesday, the United Nations Security Council adopted a presidential statement stressing the critical part scientific and technological developments can perform in advancing world peace and security. The declaration S/PRST/2024/6 acknowledges the possibility of modern innovations including artificial intelligence and quantum technology to improve mutual trust and cooperation. The Council also underlined, though, the increasing hazards these developments bring depending on their proper control and interpretation.

Robin Geiss, Director of UNIDIR, briefs the Security Council on the growing influence of scientific advancements on global peace and security. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Four experts briefed the Council during the session, urging members to keep ahead of the fast changing scientific scene. Director of the UN Institute for Disarmament Research Robin Geiss underlined that a dangerous knowledge gap results from the fact that the speed of technological development often exceeds the capacity of legislators to react. He advocated a combined strategy for arms control and peacekeeping using scientific knowledge to guard against possible dangers while also leveraging it.

Neurosurgeon Jocelyne Bloch discusses how advances in science, including AI-driven neurotechnology, could reshape peacekeeping and international security at the UN Security Council meeting. UN Photo/Evan Schneider

Emphasizing both the good and maybe disruptive effects of such technologies on world security, neurosurgeon Jocelyne Bloch of the University of Lausanne demonstrated a medical breakthrough using artificial intelligence to restore movement to paralyzed patients. Her studies highlight the two-edged character of developments like neurotechnology, which provide great advantages but also ethical and security problems.

Grégoire Courtine of NeuroRestore addresses the Security Council on the implications of scientific advances for global peace and security. UN Photo/Evan Schneider

Neuroscientist Grégoire Courtine of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology echoed these worries, stressing that even if scientific development can greatly enhance quality of life, such developments must be carefully controlled to prevent aggravation of already existing global inequalities.

Amin Awad, President of DCAF, briefs the Security Council on the security implications of emerging scientific developments. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

If improperly controlled, new technologies could become the "chemical weapons of tomorrow," warned Amin Awad, President of the Geneva Center for Security Sector Governance. He underlined how important international humanitarian law—especially the Geneva Conventions—is still in terms of offering a structure for controlling these developments.

Ignazio Cassis, Head of Switzerland’s Foreign Affairs, chairs the Security Council meeting on the role of science in maintaining international peace. UN Photo/Evan Schneider

Council members agreed that technological advancement shouldn't widen the gulf separating rich from poor countries. Leaders from Guyana and Algeria underlined that the Global South shouldn't let new technologies be used as a testing ground. The Federal Councillor of Switzerland, Ignazio Cassis, urged quick planning to handle the significant consequences of developing technologies on peacekeeping and warfare. The official representative of the Republic of Korea compared the current moment to a "oppenheimer moment," warning that decisions taken now will decide whether science is used for good or evil.

The need of global cooperation and ethical governance of scientific innovations became evident as the Council confirmed its responsibility in preserving world security. The responsibility now rests in juggling the promise of these discoveries with the necessity to protect human dignity and security.