(New York) – Governments must guard against allowing new technologies and scientific advancements to be used to develop weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), UN officials have warned, calling on states to carefully review such emerging threats.
During a UN Security Council open debate, UN officials and experts called for the elimination of all weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) – chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear – and for preventing such weapons from being misused by non-state actors, including terrorists.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also raised attention to emerging threats due to new technologies, including the misuse of artificial intelligence, 3D printing and synthetic biology. “The nexus between these emerging technologies and WMD needs close examination and action,” Ban said.
He also warned that the international community was vastly unprepared to prevent or respond to biological attacks. “The impact and consequences of a biological attack on a civilian target could far exceed those of a chemical or radiological attack,” he said.
