AI Pioneer Says Regulatory Brakes Need to Be Placed on AI Development

Speaking during the Digital World Conference focused on AI’s role in social development, leading experts and policymakers warned that the technology’s rapid evolution demands stronger oversight to ensure it benefits society rather than harms it.

Professor Geoffrey Hinton cautioned that innovation without proper direction could lead to serious consequences. To illustrate his concern, Hinton compared unchecked AI progress to driving a vehicle without essential controls. He told attendees that lacking brakes is dangerous, but lacking the ability to steer is even worse.

The conference, co-hosted by the UN Research Institute for Social Development, took place during a week filled with high-level discussions on AI. Governments and United Nations bodies are increasingly focused on how to regulate the technology, expand access, and address risks as AI becomes embedded in economies and daily life worldwide.

Recent projections highlight the scale of what is at stake. According to UN Trade and Development, the sector could grow to $4.8 trillion by 2033. That level of expansion would create an industry larger than the economy of Japan within ten years.

Despite the rapid growth, control over AI development remains concentrated in a small number of countries and corporations. Pedro Manuel Moreno of UNCTAD warned that such concentration could widen existing global inequalities. This concern was echoed by Doreen Bogdan-Martin of the International Telecommunication Union, who noted that adoption of generative AI tools is progressing much faster in wealthier nations than in developing ones.

She warned that without intervention, the world could face a growing divide between those who create AI systems and those who simply use them. Bridging gaps in infrastructure, funding, and technical expertise, she said, will require coordinated international efforts.

The surge of meetings taking place in Geneva and other global hubs reflects a growing push to ensure that all countries can both benefit from and regulate AI technologies. Policymakers are increasingly aligning around the need for shared standards and cooperation.

Discussions at the conference emphasized the importance of transparent and accountable governance frameworks. Participants highlighted challenges such as algorithmic bias, limited transparency, and the concentration of vast data resources within a small number of powerful firms.

There was also a strong focus on how AI is reshaping social protection systems, employment, education, and the transition to greener energy, alongside calls to protect vulnerable populations.

Efforts to ground policy in evidence are being led by the UN’s Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence. The panel’s research will feed into the upcoming Global Dialogue on AI Governance, a UN initiative bringing together all member states along with industry, academia, and civil society.

AI firms like GlobalTech Corp. (OTC: GLTK) are likely to welcome a regulatory approach that is uniform across jurisdictions rather than a fragmented system in which companies have to navigate differing and sometimes conflicting rules in the different areas where they have operations or business interests.

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