America News Agency

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that the proliferation of artificial intelligence technology is increasing the threat of nuclear war and is now “on a knife edge” as the dangers to humanity's existence mount.

Guterres' warning was shown in a video recorded at the US Arms Control Association (ACA) annual meeting in Washington on Friday morning.

In the video, the Secretary-General made his most impassioned call to date for nuclear weapon states to take their non-proliferation obligations seriously and, in particular, to make a joint commitment not to be the first to use nuclear weapons.

“The regime designed to prevent the use, testing and proliferation of nuclear weapons is weakening,” Guterres warned 600 days before the expiration of the 2010 New Start treaty between the United States and Russia, the last agreement limiting the strategic arsenals of the two nuclear superpowers.

More than 30 years after the end of the Cold War, the United States and Russia kept many of their intercontinental ballistic missiles on alert, ready to launch within minutes. It is feared that launch procedures could potentially be streamlined with the help of artificial intelligence to increase the deterrence of both countries.

“Humanity is on a knife edge; the risk of using nuclear weapons has reached dimensions not seen since the Cold War,” Guterres said in his ACA speech. "States are engaged in a qualitative arms race. Technologies like artificial intelligence multiply the danger."

“All countries must agree that the decision to use nuclear weapons must be made by humans, not by machines or algorithms,” Guterres insisted.

Two years ago, the US, UK and France issued a joint statement on the need to “maintain human control” over nuclear launches. Russia and China have yet to issue a similar statement.

According to estimates by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), nuclear weapons have declined dramatically since the Cold War. From a peak of about 70,300 weapons in 1986, the number has fallen to an estimated 12,100 this year. The FAS warned that the total inventory declines gradually as retired weapons are dismantled. However, the total stockpile of military warheads ready for use is beginning to increase again after a long post-Cold War decline.