{"id":363593,"date":"2025-01-27T08:35:26","date_gmt":"2025-01-27T07:35:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=363593"},"modified":"2025-01-27T08:35:27","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T07:35:27","slug":"davos-un-introduces-ai-as-the-next-existential-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=363593","title":{"rendered":"Davos: UN Introduces AI as \u201cThe next existential threat\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Essay by\u00a0<\/strong>Eric Worrall<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate crisis move aside, there is a new fake emergency in town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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At Davos, Guterres slams backsliding on climate commitments<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

22 January 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The world\u2019s political and business elite present in Davos on Wednesday faced an uncompromising address from UN chief Ant\u00f3nio Guterres as he rounded on a lack of multilateral collaboration in an \u201cincreasingly rudderless world\u201d at risk from two existential dangers: climate change and unregulated Artificial Intelligence<\/strong> (AI).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Fossil fuel addiction\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Likening fossil fuel addiction to Frankenstein\u2019s monster \u2013 \u201csparing nothing and no one\u201d \u2013 the Secretary-General noted the irony that 13 of the world\u2019s biggest ports for oil supertankers are set to be overwhelmed by rising sea levels, a consequence of rising temperatures and sea ice melt, caused overwhelmingly by burning coal, crude oil and natural gas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI\u2019s untold promise <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next existential threat, AI, is a double-edged sword<\/strong>, Mr. Guterres continued, as it is already revolutionizing learning, diagnosing illnesses, helping farmers to increase their yields and improving the targeting of aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it comes with profound risks if it is left ungoverned: it can disrupt economies, undermine trust in institutions and deepen inequalities, the Secretary-General warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026Read more: https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/story\/2025\/01\/1159271<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

OK, maybe by \u201cthe next existential threat\u201d, the UN just meant \u201canother existential threat\u201d. But it is an interesting turn of phrase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it has been obvious for some time the UN would need a new crisis to replace the faltering climate crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I predicted back in 2017 that AI would be the next fake crisis;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Next Eco-Scare Story?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Next Eco-Scare Story?<\/a><\/blockquote>