Minister of Foreign Affairs George Gerapetritis’ speech at the High-level side event in the margins of the 81st Session of the UN General Assembly on “Artificial Intelligence[...]

Dear colleagues and friends,

It is a great honour to welcome you today to the joint side event of Greece and India on Artificial Intelligence, emerging technologies and international peace and security.

I am particularly pleased to co-chair this discussion with my good friend and colleague, the Minister of External Affairs of India, Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who is one of the most distinctive personalities in international diplomacy.

Let me also warmly thank our distinguished briefers: Amandeep Singh Gill, Under-Secretary-General and the Secretary-General's Envoy on Technology; Izumi Nakamitsu, Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs; and Rodrigo Saad of Security Council Report.

I would also like to acknowledge the presence of Security Council Report's Executive Director, Shamala Kandiah Thompson.

We are going to discuss the Security Council Report, "Artificial Intelligence, Geopolitics and the UN Security Council", examining the implications of AI for international peace and security, especially in the maritime domain.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Artificial Intelligence is already transforming the international security environment.

It offers significant opportunities to strengthen our ability to prevent conflict, protect civilians and support peace. At the same time, it creates new vulnerabilities and raises profound questions about responsibility, accountability and the application of International Law.

The question before us is therefore no longer whether AI will affect international peace and security. It already does. The question is how we choose to shape that transformation.

For Greece, the starting point is clear. Artificial Intelligence must remain human-centred, responsible and firmly anchored in International Law. The UN Charter, international humanitarian law and international human rights law remain fully applicable as technologies evolve.

And one principle should remain constant: technology can augment human judgment, but it cannot replace human responsibility.

Important international initiatives have already contributed to this discussion, including the REAIM process, the Political Declaration on Responsible Military Use of Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy, and the India AI Impact Summit earlier this year.

Greece has also sought to advance this conversation within the United Nations. In April 2025, together with France and the Republic of Korea, we convened an Arria-formula meeting of the Security Council on Artificial Intelligence and international peace and security.

Today, we want to take this discussion further, with particular attention to the maritime domain. The opportunities are considerable.

AI can strengthen maritime domain awareness and early warning, contribute to safer navigation and shipping, and enhance the protection and resilience of critical maritime infrastructure.

More fundamentally, it can help us move from reaction towards anticipation, identifying emerging threats earlier, understanding them better and responding before they escalate.

But AI is also inherently dual-use. Capabilities developed for legitimate and peaceful purposes can be adapted or misused in ways that threaten security.

Increasing technological dependence can also create new vulnerabilities, including cyber vulnerabilities, affecting ports, shipping, critical infrastructure and undersea cables.

The maritime domain therefore provides a compelling illustration of both the promise and the risks associated with Artificial Intelligence.

I would also like to acknowledge India's longstanding contribution to discussions on science and technology in the context of international security through its annual initiative in the First Committee.

This morning we had the first gathering of the Group of Friends on Safety and Security of Shipping and Seafarers, where my good friend Dr. Jaishankar led the initiative alongside the Foreign Minister of Liberia.

For Greece, maritime security has been a central priority throughout our tenure on the Security Council. We have sought to keep the protection of maritime routes and critical infrastructure, and above all, the safety and security of seafarers firmly on the Council's agenda. As Greece prepares to assume the Presidency of the Security Council in October, we believe that the Council should look not only at the risks created by new technologies, but also at how they can strengthen our collective capacity for prevention and peace.

Let me highlight in this respect four considerations. First, we should harness AI as a tool for prevention. AI can strengthen early warning and conflict analysis, support peace operations, facilitate mediation and humanitarian response, and improve maritime situational awareness.

The ambition should not simply be to manage crises more efficiently. It should be to anticipate them earlier and, where possible, prevent them.

Secondly, we need stronger partnerships. Governments and international organizations do not possess all the technology or expertise required to understand this transformation. We need stronger cooperation with technology companies, the scientific community, and academia, based on clear responsibilities and appropriate safeguards. When it comes to maritime security, we need to also engage with the maritime community.

Thirdly, our multilateral institutions must keep pace with technological change. The Security Council should be able to consider the implications of emerging technologies more systematically when they affect international peace and security, drawing more regularly on scientific and technical expertise.

And finally, innovation must go hand in hand with responsibility. And this is the most critical factor of my presentation. The opportunities offered by AI cannot come at the expense of International Law, human oversight, and accountability. They are no obstacles to innovation. They are conditions for trust.

And the truth is that artificial intelligence is not another phase of the industrial revolution. It's a new industrial revolution. And the idea is that for the first time, I think there is a direct challenge towards the supremacy of the human brain. The positive things we all understand and know: health, education, growth, applications, obviously addressing global challenges such as climate crisis.

However, there is a significant risk, and this comes through the possible under-regulation or unchecked implementation of artificial intelligence. First of all, the impact on vulnerable groups and especially children cannot go unaddressed. Secondly, massive job destruction. We expect a transformation of the labor market as AI advancesnrapidly. Thirdly, concentrated wealth. Obviously, since AI will develop technologies that will be at large scale marketable, it's obvious that this will produce profits. And in this respect, we can expect global inequalities already existing at large scale to become greater.

Now, we shouldn't, in my eyes, have an illusion that artificial intelligence operators can indeed self-regulate. This is something that I cannot believe and expect. We need strong regulation when it comes to AI. Strong regulation concerning licensing, concerning supervision, concerning a system of sanctions for possible violations of fundamentals concerning the implementation of artificial intelligence. And most importantly, a very powerful international regulator to actually see how artificial intelligence progresses to the benefit of humanity and not to the benefit of specific individuals.

Technology will continue to evolve. The question for us is whether our institutions, our cooperation, and our collective ambition can evolve with it. And this is the conversation we want to advance today, and one that Greece and India intend to carry forward within the United Nations.

Thank you.

September 26, 2026