Rabat – Morocco’s Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita drew attention to artificial intelligence as both a promise and a peril during the UN Security Council debate titled “Artificial Intelligence and International Peace and Security: Addressing Complexities, Multiple Impacts, and Responsible Use,” on Wednesday in New York. He warned that while AI can help humanity, its misuse already threatens its stability through extreme exploitation.
He pointed to growing risks that can no longer be ignored. Advanced cyberattacks increasingly target critical infrastructure. Generative AI spreads false content at a massive scale, making it harder to separate truth from lies.
Extremist groups are also turning these technologies into tools for interference and radicalization. For Bourita, these dangers prove that urgent action is needed to prevent AI from becoming a weapon of division.
But the minister also highlighted AI’s potential to be a force for good. Used responsibly, it could power early warning systems to detect instability, help fight digital disinformation, and strengthen UN peacekeeping operations.
He added that the same tools could ease global security threats linked to climate change, such as water scarcity and food insecurity, by improving crisis prediction and management.
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To guard against abuse, Bourita urged the UN and its member states to consider a framework inspired by Security Council Resolution 1540, which restricts the spread of weapons of mass destruction to non-state actors. A similar global approach, he argued, could keep dangerous AI applications out of the wrong hands.
He further emphasized Morocco’s commitment to an inclusive and ethical system of AI governance. Such a framework, he said, must respect international law, fight discrimination, guarantee fair access to technology, protect the environment, and encourage innovation.
Morocco, he stressed, will continue to work through multilateral partnerships to make sure AI becomes a tool for peace and sustainable development rather than instability.
Closing his remarks, Bourita reminded the Council that ignoring the risks of AI is no longer an option. The stakes, he said, are nothing less than international security and the dignity of people worldwide.
Morocco stands ready, he concluded, to cooperate with partners in shaping an AI future that strengthens humanity instead of dividing it.
