UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Photo: Eric Bridiers.
The lack of control over social media and artificial intelligence gives “a megaphone to the worst impulses of humanity,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the opening of the 10th UN World Forum of the Alliance of Civilisations in Cascais, near Lisbon, France24 reports.
The rise of hatred and disinformation
“Without proper regulation, digital platforms and artificial intelligence have given hate speech unprecedented speed and scale. The worst aspects of humanity have been given a megaphone, and this often leads to violence,” Guterres said.
The Secretary General stressed the importance of combating the spread of disinformation and hate speech on the Internet. He drew particular attention to the danger of deepfake, a technology that allows the creation of realistic but fake images or videos using artificial intelligence. “The impossible and unverifiable becomes plausible in the blink of an eye,” he warned.
In his speech, Guterres also reiterated his call for peace in Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon and Sudan, where conflicts are causing significant human losses.
