What can AI do in Biology? – WHA side event

Overview

Date: 19 May 2026: 9am – 10:30am

Location: Geneva Centre for Security Policy, Chem. Eugène-Rigot 2D, 1211 Genève

Organisers: UK Mission to the UN, in collaboration with the Simon Institute for Longterm Governance

We’d love to see you there. Confirm your attendance with amina@simoninstitute.ch

Agenda

Background

Advances in artificial intelligence are transforming the life sciences: accelerating drug discovery, improving disease surveillance, and enabling new approaches to pandemic preparedness. AI tools can also assist in the design of biological molecules, the interpretation of complex genomic data, and the automation of laboratory processes. As these capabilities advance, they may also lower the barriers for malicious actors to cause harm and outpace the ability of existing health security frameworks to detect, attribute, and respond to biological threats.

Advanced AI companies are investing in safety measures, from safeguards built into AI models to evaluations of biological risk. The biosecurity community is working to strengthen tools such as screening of synthetic DNA orders. Governments are beginning to recognise these risks, including through the work of national AI safety institutes and the Biological Weapons Convention deliberations. To date, however, the global health community – which would be on the front lines of any AI-enabled biological event – has not been systematically engaged in these conversations. This event aims to bridge that gap: bringing the evidence on AI-enabled biological risks to the global health community and facilitating dialogue on how the global health community might prepare for them. It will also explore if and how international coordination may support such efforts.