Just a few years ago it could answer questions or generate texts. Today it can write computer code, analyze massive amounts of data, create realistic images and videos, help scientists discover new drugs, and increasingly operate autonomously with little human supervision.
But as AI’s capabilities accelerate, experts say the rules that ensure AI’s safe use are struggling to keep up.
This is the conclusion of the preliminary report published on Wednesday by the United Nations Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence.
It warns that the window to establish effective global governance remains open, but may not remain so for long.
AI is contributing to major medical breakthroughs.
Table of Contents
Why it matters
AI could become one of humanity’s most transformative technologies.
If used responsibly, it could accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals by improving healthcare, education, scientific research, agriculture and accessibility for people with disabilities.
But without safeguards, the same technology could deepen inequality, spread misinformation, threaten human rights, disrupt labor markets and put powerful AI systems in the hands of very few governments and companies.
According to the report, the challenge is to find a way to realize the enormous benefits of AI while preventing the growing risks.
Extraordinary pace of development
AI capabilities have developed extremely quickly in recent years.
Powerful new computer networks, large amounts of training data, and improved AI techniques have produced systems capable of conducting fluent conversations, enabling advanced scientific thinking, developing software, and producing highly realistic images, audio, and video content.
The next wave is already emerging.
Rather than simply responding to prompts, AI “agents” can increasingly schedule tasks, use digital tools, write software, and complete complex tasks with little or no human supervision.
According to the report, researchers say the complexity of the tasks these systems can handle is doubling every few months.
AI-powered robotics is increasingly being used in agriculture.
The advantages: What can AI do?
The UN report highlights a growing list of real successes.
- Medical breakthroughs: AI has predicted the structures of more than 200 million proteins, accelerated drug discovery, vaccine development and research into antibiotic resistance.
- Better healthcare: Doctors are using AI to detect diseases like breast cancer earlier, while health workers in developing countries are using AI tools in local languages to improve patient care.
- Food security: AI-powered early warning systems help detect food insecurity before it becomes a crisis.
- Improve lives: AI supports scientific research, makes technology more accessible to people with disabilities, and expands opportunities for personalized education and mental health support
The panel emphasizes that these are not future possibilities: they are already underway.
A data center in the US state of Wisconsin.
The risks: what worries experts?
The same technology also creates new dangers.
- Online abuse: AI is driving the spread of sexual abuse material and sexually explicit deepfakes, with women and children at greatest risk.
- Disinformation: AI can generate false information that is as compelling as the truth, undermining trust in public debate and democracy.
- Crime: Criminals are using AI for cyberattacks, fraud and social engineering scams.
- Mental health: Some AI systems can reinforce harmful beliefs or behaviors and lead to mental health crises, including suicide.
- Loss of control: As AI becomes more autonomous, experts warn that it could become more difficult to monitor and control without stronger safeguards.
- Environmental impact: The energy-hungry data centers that power AI contribute to greenhouse gas emissions that lead to global warming.
Who benefits and who might be left behind?
The AI revolution is anything but equal.
Although it is used around the world, access remains heavily concentrated in developed countries.
The report notes that the United States has about three-quarters of the computing power behind the world’s leading AI supercomputers, while China accounts for about 15 percent, meaning the two countries together have about 90 percent of that computing power.
The most advanced AI models are also developed by companies based in these two countries.
Many developing countries lack the computing infrastructure, technical expertise, data, investment and local language resources needed to fully benefit from AI.
As a result, they often rely on technologies that they cannot develop, test, test or adapt in their own society.
The panel warns that if these gaps are not closed, AI could increase existing global inequalities rather than reduce them.
A visually impaired student in Uganda uses an aid to read and record lessons.
Why does AI need regulation?
According to the UN body, today’s governance systems are not designed for such rapid technological development.
Governments face what experts call an “evidence dilemma”: Policymakers need reliable scientific data before introducing regulations, but by the time there is enough time, the technology may already be advanced.
Although there are already more than 40 AI governance frameworks and ethical guidelines in different parts of the world, they remain fragmented, inconsistent and rarely tested to see if they actually work.
Many security assessments are also carried out by the companies developing the technology themselves.
The report concludes that stronger independent assessment, international cooperation and common standards are needed to ensure AI systems remain safe, transparent and accountable.
At the same time, countries need investments in digital infrastructure, education, technical expertise and institutions so that they can control and deploy AI on their own terms.
What is the United Nations doing?
The United Nations is supporting a new international architecture to help countries make informed decisions about AI.
In 2025, the UN General Assembly established the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence, composed of 40 experts from all regions of the world serving in a personal capacity.
The role of the panel is more scientific than regulatory. It regularly assesses the latest evidence on the opportunities, risks and impacts of AI and produces independent reports that governments can use to develop their policies.
The panel’s work will feed into the UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance, starting on July 6, 2026 in Geneva, where member states will discuss international approaches to managing the technology.
The end result
The scientific body is clear: AI is neither inherently good nor bad.
Their impact will depend on the decisions governments, businesses and societies make today.
Technology is already transforming science, healthcare, education and business around the world.
Whether it ultimately reduces or widens inequalities, and whether it strengthens or weakens democracy and human rights, will largely depend on how quickly the world can build governance that keeps pace with innovation.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/07/1167848
