Guterres said, “digital technologies are reshaping every facet of our lives. But they are also exposing deep inequalities – both within and between countries. For many, the digital promise is still a virtual dream.”

He noted that “nearly one-third of the world’s population remains unconnected, locked out of the digital revolution,” stressing that the digital divide “is depriving billions of people of opportunities. Of education, healthcare, job opportunities, the tools to build a better life.”

On Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Secretary-General said it was “the biggest revolution since the invention of internet – perhaps since the second industrial revolution” and “can help drive sustainable development, foster social justice, and transform our lives for the better.”

AI, he said, “also poses extreme – and even existential – risks. From entrenching biases to undermining trust and social cohesion, disrupting labour markets, threatening privacy, and human rights, and even jeopardizing international peace and security.”

Guterres said AI “is being deployed with few guardrails and little caution. And the pace of innovation is outpacing the capacity to regulate it.”

He said, “we must join forces to ensure AI never stands for Advancing Inequality.”

The Secretary-General said he was “encouraged