UN Chief says world will be more digital post coronavirus pandemic

Amidst the coronavirus lockdown, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that mass digitization during the lockdowns will have a long-lasting impact. According to reports, the UN Secretary-General added that the future will be very different from the past and that this crisis will provide a major impetus for the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the future.

'Direct Support'

As per reports, Guterres said that the post-coronavirus world will be very different but on the flip side he also claimed that there would be much greater need to create regulation and other mechanisms so that all the development of the digital world is done for the benefit of humanity. UN Secretary-General has claimed that so far, the deadly coronavirus is only affecting wealthier nations like China, Europe and the United States.

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It is only recently that the coronavirus has begun its entry into the ‘southern hemisphere’ according to Guterres. That is why Guterres has advocated for ‘direct support’ for families and small-medium sized businesses.

'Citizens must remain vigilant'

According to reports, Joseph Cannataci, the UN special rapporteur on the right to privacy has said that ‘Dictatorships and authoritarian societies often start in the face of a threat. As per reports, this is why Joseph believes that it is important that people remain vigilant and do not give away all their freedoms during the coronavirus pandemic. This pandemic has led governments to initiate some emergency measures and declared themselves on a war footing. Experts have suggested that the best way to combat this pandemic is to enforce quarantine measures.

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According to reports, while many governments grapple with how to enforce this lockdown, many governments have turned to authoritarian means such as facial recognition and phone tracking. The danger is that while these measures were brought in to tackle the virus and ensure the safety of citizens, these measures may out-live the virus according to Joseph Cannataci.