The report provides an independent scientific assessment of the capabilities, emerging opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence (AI). It provides a shared evidence base to help United Nations Member States navigate a rapidly changing technology. It’s central warning: current safeguards cannot keep pace with the growth of AI’s capabilities. 

It identifies a crucial evidence challenge for decision makers around the world: policymakers need scientific evidence to effectively govern AI, but by the time the evidence is clear, it may be too late to act on it. The report outlines trends in AI and presents its findings across seven key domains:

• AI science, advances and trajectories
• societal applications: science, health, education and agriculture
• economic implications
• security, systems and environmental implications
• human rights, information and democracy
• cultural & individual flourishing, autonomy and child safety
• management, governance and reliability.