The United Nations’ Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence has warned that the rapid development of artificial intelligence is outpacing scientific understanding and government regulation, making it impossible to guarantee that increasingly advanced AI systems will not cause catastrophic harm.
The warning was contained in the panel’s preliminary report released on Wednesday in Geneva. The assessment, described as the first independent global review of AI’s risks and opportunities, was prepared by a 40-member panel of international experts to provide governments with scientific evidence as they develop policies for the fast-changing technology.
The report said policymakers face a growing challenge because AI technology is advancing more quickly than the scientific research needed to understand it and the regulatory frameworks required to govern it effectively.
Yoshua Bengio, co-chair of the panel, said the pace of AI development has overtaken both scientific knowledge and governments’ ability to respond.
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“AI capabilities are outpacing both scientific understanding and governments’ ability to adapt,” Bengio said.
“With growing evidence of deceptive AI behaviour, science currently cannot guarantee that as capabilities continue to increase, AI will not cause catastrophic harm, either on its own or due to malicious users.”
According to the report, AI systems are expected to become increasingly autonomous in the near future through the development of agentic AI, which can perform real-world tasks with limited human intervention. While the technology could boost economic activity and transform sectors such as healthcare through faster drug and vaccine development, the report said its long-term impact on employment and productivity remains uncertain.
The panel also identified several safety concerns, including the possibility of losing control over highly autonomous AI systems, the spread of misinformation, and the potential misuse of AI for fraud, cyberattacks and biological threats.
It further noted that many countries lack the technical capacity to evaluate or regulate advanced AI systems, leaving them dependent on technologies they may not fully understand or control. The report added that current safety assessments often rely on limited testing data provided by AI companies.
Reacting to the findings, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres urged governments to strengthen their understanding and oversight of artificial intelligence.
“The world cannot govern what it cannot understand,” Guterres said in a statement.
“The potential is great, but the risks are real, and the cost of waiting is rising,” he added.
