The United Nations (UN) has warned that generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) could become “a modern-day Frankenstein’s monster”, with Human Rights the first casualty.

Speaking at the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights on November 25, 2025, Mark Garten Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, stressed that AI could do a lot of good things as it has a tremendous potential. At the same time, the use of AI for political and economic purposes could mislead people by distorting information, he added. “When powerful tech giants introduce new technologies, such as generative artificial intelligence, Human Rights can be the first casualty,” stated the senior UN official.

Türk further said that rules, safeguards and independent oversight must keep pace with innovation in order to protect the privacy, political preferences, freedom of speech and freedom of action of common people. He believes that the AI systems could pose a serious threat to human civilisation without proper safeguards and regulations.

The UN official highlighted the threat posed by an increasing concentration of corporate power and the massive “accumulation of personal and corporate wealth among a handful of players”, stressing: “In some cases, this exceeds the economies of entire countries.” He insisted that when “power is not constrained by law, it can lead to abuse and subjugation”.

Türk, who noticed that some governments were rolling back laws that require companies to respect Human Rights in their operations, described the trend as “worrying”. He urged different countries to reverse the course and strongly condemned attacks on Human Rights defenders who document corporate abuses, saying that such abuses were unacceptable and should end.

He mentioned that courts in Brazil, Colombia, Thailand, the UK, the US and some other countries recently found that the tech giants could be held accountable for Human Rights abuses linked to their operations, supply chains or environmental practices. These cases show that respecting Human Rights is no longer optional for businesses and is increasingly backed by legal obligations.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed serious concern about the adverse effects of modern technologies, stating that the threats of today “could materialise into harms that undermine the promise of emerging technologies and could unleash unpredictable consequences”. He is of the opinion that governments should take necessary steps in an attempt to safeguard the basic rights of common people. “Governments have a responsibility to come together to prevent such an outcome,” Türk told the forum.

Meanwhile, Türk has claimed that his office requires more resources and broader backing to encourage the creation of a Global Alliance for Human Rights to help keep rights at the centre of public life. “Human Rights are about – and for – all of us. We need to make sure they guide the decisions shaping our future,” he added.

Meanwhile,

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das