UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned on Monday that the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) has put all human rights at risk, including the rights to life, food, privacy, health, and security.
Volker Türk stated that the current race to create increasingly powerful AI is «a qualitative leap toward even greater existential risks for all aspects of our lives». His statement followed calls from tech industry leaders to intentionally slow the development of cutting-edge AI models due to risks, including the potential loss of control over these systems. Among those calling for a pause are Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI head Sam Altman, and entrepreneur Elon Musk.
Risks of agentic AI
Türk specifically highlighted so-called agentic AI—systems capable of making decisions independently. He noted that agentic AI is already showing failures that could paralyze critical services, disrupt communications, destabilize essential infrastructure, and cause serious harm to democratic institutions.
«Entire populations could be left without access to water, heating or financial services», the High Commissioner said. He also noted that AI is already «accelerating the pace of wars, expanding their scale and weakening the safeguards that separate us from the use of weapons of mass destruction».
Call for international regulation
According to Volker Türk, states and companies must act urgently through multilateral forums to regulate the development and use of AI based on international law and human rights.
The UN High Commissioner emphasized that no country can control this technology alone, no company should unilaterally decide which risks the world must accept, and no person should be forced to trade their human rights for promises of technological progress.
Source: Clarín
