The United States worries about the ramifications of military artificial intelligence and autonomous weapons, which could radically change the way wars work in the future. The country has presented an initiative to regulate its use internationally.
At the end of a two-day conference in The Hague, the United States launched an initiative to promote international cooperation on the responsible use of artificial intelligence and autonomous weapons for military purposes.
« As this is a rapidly evolving technology, we have an obligation to create strong standards of responsible behavior regarding military uses of AI, while keeping in mind that AI applications by the military will undoubtedly change in the years to come said Bonnie Jenkins, the State Department’s undersecretary for arms control and international security.
Fully autonomous weapons in the near future?
It is a non-legally binding statement that outlines best practices for responsible use of AI by the military. It contains 12 points, which emphasize in particular that use must be in accordance with international law and that States must ” maintain control and human participation for all actions essential to the information and execution of sovereign decisions concerning the use of nuclear weapons ».
According to specialists, the war in Ukraine could soon see the use of fully autonomous drones, capable of choosing and destroying their targets without human intervention. The Ukrainian army already uses semi-autonomous drones equipped with AI. Any international cooperation should of course include China and Russia. The Chinese ambassador to the Netherlands was present at the conference and said that China had sent two documents to the United Nations on this subject. On the other hand, Russia was not invited.
