New York, 21 March 2024 (dpa/MIA) - The United Nations General Assembly adopted its first resolution on artificial intelligence (AI) on Thursday based on a paper introduced by the United States.

The text states that the rapid development of AI requires international rules and encourages cooperation with poorer countries in particular. A global consensus on "safe, secure and trustworthy AI systems" is urgently needed. The paper condemns the misuse of AI.

After months of negotiations among diplomats, the draft was accepted by the largest UN body without any further proposed amendments. This made it possible for the 193-member General Assembly to adopt it unanimously without a formal vote. General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding.

Artificial intelligence usually refers to applications based on machine learning. The rapid development of increasingly powerful software offers huge opportunities and raises hopes of major progress in the fight against diseases such as cancer, or problems such as the climate crisis.

At the same time, there are concerns that powerful applications could cause great harm if they are not regulated.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has repeatedly warned of the dangers of the technology and convened a panel of experts to advise the UN on the issue.

In the middle of the month, the EU Parliament gave the green light for stricter rules on AI in the European Union. In what the parliament describes as the world's first law on artificial intelligence, AI systems are to be categorized into different risk groups in future. The higher the potential risks of an application, the higher the requirements should be.