Sam Altman’s remarks at the United Nations Security Council

Today, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman addressed the United Nations Security Council on artificial intelligence. He discussed AI’s potential to expand opportunity, the importance of keeping powerful systems under human control, and the need for international cooperation on AI safety.

Thank you, Mr. President and your Excellencies. I’m honored to be here and to be able to speak with you all at this important time.

We have been talking about artificial intelligence for years, but it feels different in recent weeks and months. Rapid model progress has made the timeline feel more compressed, the upside more tangible, but also the stakes and the risks more immediate.

We have a choice in front of us. AI can either be more like a new Renaissance of creativity and discovery, or more like a new Industrial Revolution of upheaval and disarray.

The Renaissance was a time when new tools, new ideas, and new institutions expanded what people believed they could do. AI can play that role for our time. I believe that people are much more capable than they imagine themselves to be, but have been held back by limited technology that was meant to empower but instead distracts and often steals attention.

The best version of AI is not about making people cogs in a giant machine, or optimizing every part of life until the human parts disappear. It is about giving people more agency in an ever more complex world: more ability to learn, to create, discover, build, participate. There are many things that AI cannot—and should not—automate.

AI should be built for people, not simply to turn the crank of the machines faster for their own sake. Some of the things people working to build AI have said are so dystopian that they sound like the plot of bad science fiction movies.

Anything this powerful is also intimidating. This moment is complicated as we feel both tremendous potential and very understandable anxiety at the same time.

These models can help people discover new knowledge: new medicines, better health care, stronger education, and build more productive economies. They can be new tools for people to pursue dreams and ambition that today feel out of reach. The complexity of life has increased so dramatically for the average person. AI can be a defensive tool against this complexity as much as it can be this tool of unprecedented discovery and innovation.

On the other hand, as AI systems become more capable and more autonomous, they could move faster than our institutions, concentrate power in too few hands, or make decisions that people no longer understand or control.

That concern becomes especially important as we approach systems that can improve themselves and future versions of themselves, often called recursive self-improvement. As the process of building AI becomes more automated, the pace of AI progress could accelerate rapidly. This moment calls for extreme care.

I largely agree with Professor Bengio. Although I’ll say two instead of three—I believe there are two ways that AI progress could go very badly that we have to avoid.

First, we could lose control of the future to AI. The risk is that it moves so fast that people can no longer follow what’s happening or intervene when needed. This would obviously be terrible.

The industry must not accept too much technological risk just because the benefits are too great and that they feel too important to slow down. Beating companies in a competitive pace is not a reason to make rash decisions. Nor do we believe we are locked in a race where we are unable to do that. We have unilaterally slowed down in the past. We will do so in the future. We do not want to build systems—we think it’s important that everyone avoids building systems—where we cannot make the alignment, monitorability, and safety guarantees that we must.

We need to understand what these systems are doing and have strong evidence that they will do what people intend, even as they get very, very smart. Actually especially as they get very very smart. It doesn’t matter whether people put the risk of catastrophe at 10%, or 1%, or 12%, or .1%. None of these levels are remotely acceptable. And we should not train models that we cannot make an extremely strong case that we will be able to keep under human control.

So that’s one way things can go wrong. In the other direction, these systems could concentrate too much power in too few hands. No one person or company or country should be able to use the most powerful AI models to impose their worldview on everyone else. A company or country that believes only it can be trusted with this technology can use that belief to justify almost anything else. We have to reject that logic, even when it’s convenient for any one actor.

Waxaan aaminsanahay inay jirto tub wax-ku-ool ah oo labadan loo dhex mari karo. OpenAI ahaan, su'aalahan waxaan ku wajahnaa yool cad: AI-gu waa inuu dadka siiyo awood dheeraad ah oo ay noloshooda ku maamulaan. Xorriyad dheeraad ah oo ay ugu noolaadaan sida ay rabaan. Awood dheeraad ah oo ay ku xalliyaan dhibaatooyinka, kuwa waaweyn iyo kuwa yaryarba, kuna horumariyaan bulshooyinkooda. Ma doonayno inaan ku dhacno dabinka yididiilo indho la'aan ah. Sidoo kale ma doonayno inaan ku dhacno dabinka rajo-beelka xad-dhaafka ah. In naloo jiido labadaas daraf midkood nagama caawin doonto inaan si guul leh u xallinno caqabadaha ina horyaalla, gaar ahaan xilli dunida iyo dadkeedu wajahayaan caqabado aad u waaweyn oo tignoolajiyadani gacan ka geysan karto xallintooda. Sidaas darteed, waxaan isku daynaa inaan raacno jidka dhexe ee labadan daraf u dhexeeya.

Annaga, taas waxay nooga dhigan tahay saddex mabda'.

Kow, marka AI-gu sii awood badnaado, dadku waa inay udub-dhexaad u ahaadaan go'aan-qaadashadiisa. Waafajintu ma aha su'aal cilmi-baariseed oo aragtiyeed. Waa hawsha lagu xaqiijinayo in nidaamyadani si lagu kalsoonaan karo ugu sii jiraan gacanta bani'aadamka, ka turjumaan qiyamka aadanaha, dadkana ka caawiyaan inay hagaan wejiyada xiga ee horumarka. Ma isku dayeyno, mana aha inaan isku dayno, in go'aanka ama qiyamka bani'aadamka la otomaatigeeyo.

Laba, faa'iidooyinka horusocodka sayniska iyo koboca dhaqaaluhu waa inay dadka ka yimaadaan, dadkana u adeegaan. AI-gu waa inuu cilmi-baarayaasha ka caawiyaa daahfurka, dhakhaatiirtuna daaweynta bukaannada, macallimiintuna waxbaridda ardayda, ganacsataduna aasaasidda shirkadaha, bulshooyinkuna xallinta dhibaatooyin awal u muuqday kuwo aan la gaadhi karin, iyo waxyaalo kale oo badan. Sheekada joogtada ah ee horusocodka aadanuhu ma aha in agabku beddelo awoodda dadku u leeyihiin inay wax doortaan oo qabtaan. Waa in agabka saxda ahi dadka ka dhigo kuwo karti badan, waxaana aaminsanahay inay arrintani aad uga fogaan doonto inta aan hadda suurtagal u malaynayno.

Saddex, tignoolajiyadani waa inay qof kasta awood siisaa. Mustaqbalka wanaagsan wuxuu ka dhalan doonaa dadka oo xaqiijiya awooddooda, una abuura qiime naftooda, bulshooyinkooda, dalalkooda iyo dunida inteeda kale. Waxaa laga yaabaa inaan ka mid nahay kuwa dhisaya tignoolajiyadan, balse annagu ma nihin halyeeyada sheekadan. Doorkayagu waa inaan awood siinno dadka ku nool dunida oo dhan, kuna kalsoonaano mucjisada xirfadaha iyo awoodaha aadanaha.

Hadda waxaan haynaa noocyo awood u leh inay daahfuraan aqoon aynaan waligeen hore u lahayn. Bal eeg horusocodka aan ku aragnay xisaabta. Saddex xagaa ka hor, noocyadeennu waxay si dhexdhexaad ah u qaban jireen xisaabta dugsiga hoose. Laba xagaa ka hor, aad bay ugu fiicnaayeen tartamada xisaabta ee dugsiga sare. Xagaagii hore, waxaan ka gaadhnay heerka billad dahab tartanka xisaabta caalamiga ah ee ugu magaca weyn. Dhowr toddobaad ka hor oo keliya, xagaagan dhexdiisa, mid ka mid ah noocyadeennu wuxuu xalliyey mid ka mid ah dhibaatooyinka abaalmarinta Millennium Prize Problems: isle'egyada Navier–Stokes.

Isle'egyadan waxaa loo adeegsadaa naqshadaynta diyaaradaha, saadaasha hawada iyo daraasadda qulqulka dhiigga. Dhibaatooyinka xisaabta uma xallinayno iska xalliya uun, balse waxaan dadka awood ugu siinaynaa inay aqoon cusub ku daahfuraan oo ay u adeegsadaan horumarinta daryeelka caafimaadka, kor u qaadidda heerka nolosha iyo ballaadhinta awoodda qof kasta oo dunida ku nool. Weli wax aad u badan ayaa u baahan in la daahfuro.

Laakiin aad bay muhiim u tahay inaan shirkaduhu beddelin geeddi-socodka dimuqraaddiga ah.

Haddii AI-gu noqonayo mid dimuqraaddi ah, go'aamada ugu muhiimsan laguma gaadhi karo shaybaarrada San Francisco oo keliya. Waa in lagu qaabeeyaa geeddi-socodyo dimuqraaddi ah iyo dawlado la xisaabtami kara dadka ay u adeegaan.

Heerka caalamiga ah marka la joogo, tani waxay u baahan doontaa iskaashi. Taariikhdeenna waxaa jiray waqtiyo ay dalalku tartamaan oo aan had iyo jeer si weyn isu jeclayn haddana isugu yimaadeen danaha ay wadaagaan iyo danta guud maadaama ay soo baxday tignoolajiyad cusub oo awood badan. Waxaan aaminsanahay in kani yahay waqtiyadaas oo kale.

Waxaan u baahanahay hannaan isku xira heerarka qaran iyo kuwa caalamiga ah ee AI-ga ugu casriyeysan: heerar lagu cabbiro awoodaha, lagu qiimeeyo khataraha, lagu go'aamiyo in tallaabooyinka badqabku ku filan yihiin iyo in kale, laguna ilaaliyo kormeer bini'aadam oo wax-ku-ool ah marka nidaamyadu sii madax-bannaanaadaan.

Waxaan u baahanahay heerar mideysan si dalalku isu barbar dhigaan caddaymaha, u xaqiijiyaan u hoggaansanaanta xeerarka, una yeeshaan af iyo faham ay wadaagaan oo ku saabsan waxa dhacaya.

Waxaan u baahanahay in dhacdooyinka si sax ah oo degdeg ah loo soo sheego, habraacyo lagu kala saaro laguna soo tebiyo, si dunidu wax uga barato fashilaadaha ka hor intaanay masiibooyin noqon.

Waxaan sidoo kale u baahanahay marinno sugan oo u dhexeeya dawladaha, hawlwadeennada kaabayaasha muhiimka ah iyo khubarada farsamada, si loo wadaago nuglaanshaha soo baxaya iyo khataraha cusub.

Dabcan, heerarkani waa inaanay xoojin shirkadaha suuqa ku horreeya ama aanay hal nooc ganacsi ka doorbidin mid kale. Waa inay taageeraan horumariyeyaasha noocyada furan iyo kuwa xiran, kuwa suuqa ku cusub iyo shaybaarrada dhisan, awoodda qaranka iyo iskaashiga caalamiga ah. Dawlad kasta waa inay go'aansato sida heerarkan loogu darayo nidaamkeeda sharci. Hase yeeshee, dhammaanteen way noo roonaan doontaa haddii aan ku heshiinno sida ay heer caalami ah u eg yihiin caddayn wanaagsan, ilaalino wanaagsan iyo kormeer wanaagsan.

Jawaab kasta ma hayno oo aad ayaana u soo dhoweynaynaa fikrad kasta oo wanaagsan. Waxaan diyaar u nahay inaan dhammaantiin idinla shaqayno, dadaalkeenna ugu badanna ku bixinno sidii aan u ogaan lahayn tubta mustaqbalka loo maro.

Waxaan joognaa is-goys laba waddo ku kala baxaan. Hal jid wuxuu horseedaa adduun ay awooddu gacmo kooban ku urursan tahay, go'aamaduna mugdi ku jiraan, dadkuna dareemayaan in tignoolajiyada ugu muhiimsan noloshooda ay wax u dhimi karto iyagoo aan talo ku lahayn. Jidka kale wuxuu horseedaa adduun ay AI-gu dadka u adeego, sababtoo ah dadku waxay hay'adaha dimuqraaddiga ah uga qayb qaataan go'aaminta sida loo horumarinayo loona hagayo; horusocodka dhanka sayniskuna wuxuu wanaajiyaa nolosha dhabta ah; dad badan ayaa mustaqbalka ka qayb geli kara; tignoolajiyaduna waxay sii xoojisaa awoodda shakhsiyaadka iyo bulshooyinka raba inay u noolaadaan sida ay doortaan. Kani waa mustaqbal ay suurtagalnimadiisu rumoobi karto, oo leh xamaasad iyo waxyaabo yaab leh.

Waana mustaqbalka aan aaminsanahay inuu mudan yahay in la dhiso. Aad iyo aad baad u mahadsan tihiin.