Guterres urges universities to teach ethics alongside AI engineering

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged universities to teach ethics alongside engineering and help shape safeguards for advanced artificial intelligence, in a video message to an AI event at the University of Coimbra in Portugal on 15 October. [1]

Guterres said AI was developing faster than institutions could adapt, bringing both potential benefits and risks. Used well and widely shared, he said, it could accelerate development and improve lives. But he warned of decisions made with diminishing human oversight, power concentrated among a small number of companies and countries, and falsehoods amplified by technology.

He argued that safeguards should reflect shared values, laws and collective knowledge. Universities, he said, contribute the expertise needed for sound governance, educate future builders and decision-makers, and help protect truth.

The message also referred to the preliminary report delivered in July by the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI to the Global Dialogue in Geneva. Guterres called on universities to make their research accessible and work across borders, including with the United Nations, to help make AI safe, fair and accessible.