AI and autonomous weapons are high on the agenda at the UN General Assembly

+ General Assembly's annual general debate, Colombia's former president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate discusses the growing risks of autonomous weapons and AI World AI and autonomous weapons are high on the agenda at the UN General Assembly September 21, 20265:18 PM ET Heard on All Things Considered Michele Kelemen UNGA - AI and autonomous weapons Listen &middot; 3:55 3:55 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5974200/nx-s1-9934858" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript As world leaders gather for the U.N.

+ General Assembly's annual general debate, Colombia's former president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate discusses the growing risks of autonomous weapons and AI Sponsor Message Transcript SCOTT DETROW, HOST: President Trump will be back at the United Nations tomorrow to deliver his annual address.

+ The high-level week is more than just a bunch of speeches, though. World leaders and diplomats are also taking part in a series of meetings and side events focused on global challenges. That is issues that require countries to work together, like climate change, the growing challenges posed by artificial intelligence and development and use of autonomous weapons. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

+ MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE: Former Colombian president and 2016 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Juan Manuel Santos, is planning to take part in an unusual demonstration later this week on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly high-level debate. It's about drone technology and autonomous weapons. JUAN MANUEL SANTOS: They're going to demonstrate how effective drones can be for the good or for the bad. In this case, the drone will recognize me to choose me for a prize or shoot me. KELEMEN: In his own country, Colombia, drones have become a major threat. SANTOS: Not only in Colombia, the whole of Latin America, and now it's growing in Africa, all around the world - how organized crime is becoming more and more powerful, how they are using drones even much more effective than the drones used by governments. KELEMEN: We meet at one of his other stops where he's talking about climate change. Santos chairs The Elders, a group of former leaders who are trying to rally the world to focus on four key global threats - nuclear weapons, climate change, pandemics and AI. SANTOS: Everybody is talking about how AI's getting out of control, and we think it is getting out of control. So we need some principles to start working on them worldwide. We need the U.S., we need China to agree to them. KELEMEN: President Trump has raised doubts about the calls for a slowdown in AI development, and he used his speech last year at the U.N. to call climate change a hoax. Trump speaks to the world body on Tuesday. China's Xi Jinping is skipping the U.N. General Assembly and meeting President Trump later this week in Washington. The U.N. Security Council is holding a meeting on AI this week, and U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres is telling the world body that it can't ignore the concerns raised by those on the front lines of AI development. ANTONIO GUTERRES: The world cannot afford a race to the bottom on AI safety. We need guardrails to build trust and that make AI safe, transparent, accountable with human dignity at the center. KELEMEN: Guterres has suggested the U.N. could be a place to help regulate AI, says Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group. One idea is a new international agency focused on this, but Gowan says that's unlikely to happen anytime soon. RICHARD GOWAN: But I do think that as the technology accelerates and as the risks associated with the technology become more obvious, you will see more pressure from more countries to say we need international agreements about how we control the growth of AI. KELEMEN: But the world is fragmented with geopolitical divides and conflicts raging across the globe. Colombian President Santos says the U.N. is at an inflection point. SANTOS: We need to rescue the principles of cooperation that allowed the world 80 years ago to create the United Nations. KELEMEN: He says he's starting to hear from more and more countries that they understand the need to cooperate, and this is one place where they can at least talk about it. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, the United Nations. (SOUNDBITE OF POST MALONE SONG, "CHEMICAL") Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. NPR does not offer or accept money for coverage or interviews. Anyone who makes such an offer or request is not an NPR employee and does not represent NPR. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{314:function(e,n,o){o.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([o.e(1),o.e(2),o.e(3),o.e(4),o.e(80)]).then((e=>{o(15),o(772),o(156),o(177),o(95),o(451),o(257),o(131),o(133),o(758),o(176),o(759),o(258),o(80),o(777)}).bind(null,o)).catch(o.oe)},786:function(e,n,o){e.exports=o(314)}},[[786,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();