As world leaders arrive in the US, there's one question they want answered

In the hyper-colour, futuristic crush of New York City's Times Square, a man who calls himself "Scientific" reflects on the march of artificial intelligence (AI).

He told SBS News the realities of AI have already arrived, with power both awesome and deeply confronting.

"You got to adapt with it. If you don’t adapt, in 10 years we are going to become extinct," he said.

Scientific is a musician. He wants more regulation of the technology companies.

"It's going left and right with this artificial intelligence … right now it’s acting like it's human.

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"If it has too much freedom over creativity, and gets the credit, what do they need us for?"

He's not alone. Everyone we spoke to in Manhattan's billboard-encrusted tourist magnet expressed concern about where the technology is leading humanity.

Another man urged some regulation be fast-tracked to ensure that AI agents don't decide humans are doing dangerous things and "get rid of them".

That's despite most people we spoke to also conceding they rely on ChatGPT and other AI assistants to help streamline their work and home lives.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has played a "central role" in crafting a statement alongside a broad coalition of international leaders, calling for control of frontier artificial intelligence models.

That statement was publicly released on Tuesday ahead of the United Nations General Assembly leaders' week.

Signatories represent Norway, Finland, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Latvia, Moldova, the Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, South Africa, Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has also signed up, and in a meeting with Albanese referred to him as a "trailblazer" in reference to Australia's social media laws .