The UN calls for a treaty banning and controlling autonomous weapons systems.
The United Nations has held a historic vote on a resolution calling for negotiations on a new international treaty that would ban and regulate the use of autonomous weapons, known as killer robots. The resolution was approved by 152 countries, with four against and 11 abstentions.
UN General Assembly resolution 78/241 notes "serious challenges and concerns" caused by new technological applications in the military sphere, including artificial intelligence and autonomy in weapons systems. Mary Wareham of Human Rights Watch highlighted the urgent need for the international community to address the challenges of excluding human control from the use of force.
Technological advances are driving the development of autonomous weapons systems that function without meaningful human control, delegating life-and-death decisions to machines. The resolution asks UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to seek the views of countries and other stakeholders on how to address the challenges posed by autonomous weapons systems, and to reflect these views in a report to the General Assembly by September 2024.
The countries that voted against the resolution include Belarus, India, Mali and Russia. Abstaining countries include China, Iran, Israel, Madagascar, North Korea, Niger, Saudi Arabia, South Sudan, Syria, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Some of these countries, including China, India, Iran, Israel and Turkey, are actively investing in military applications of artificial intelligence and related technologies for the development of autonomous weapons systems.
The main reason for the lack of progress in the negotiations on lethal autonomous weapons systems held under the Convention on Conventional Weapons in Geneva since May 2014 is the consensus approach to decision-making, when one country can reject a proposal even if all other countries agree with it.
Human Rights Watch, which is a co-founder of the Stop Killer Robots coalition, insists that urgent negotiations are needed on a new international treaty that will ban and restrict autonomous weapons systems in order to stop progress towards a future of automated killing.
The United Nations has held a historic vote on a resolution calling for negotiations on a new international treaty that would ban and regulate the use of autonomous weapons, known as killer robots. The resolution was approved by 152 countries, with four against and 11 abstentions.
UN General Assembly resolution 78/241 notes "serious challenges and concerns" caused by new technological applications in the military sphere, including artificial intelligence and autonomy in weapons systems. Mary Wareham of Human Rights Watch highlighted the urgent need for the international community to address the challenges of excluding human control from the use of force.
Technological advances are driving the development of autonomous weapons systems that function without meaningful human control, delegating life-and-death decisions to machines. The resolution asks UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to seek the views of countries and other stakeholders on how to address the challenges posed by autonomous weapons systems, and to reflect these views in a report to the General Assembly by September 2024.
The countries that voted against the resolution include Belarus, India, Mali and Russia. Abstaining countries include China, Iran, Israel, Madagascar, North Korea, Niger, Saudi Arabia, South Sudan, Syria, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Some of these countries, including China, India, Iran, Israel and Turkey, are actively investing in military applications of artificial intelligence and related technologies for the development of autonomous weapons systems.
The main reason for the lack of progress in the negotiations on lethal autonomous weapons systems held under the Convention on Conventional Weapons in Geneva since May 2014 is the consensus approach to decision-making, when one country can reject a proposal even if all other countries agree with it.
Human Rights Watch, which is a co-founder of the Stop Killer Robots coalition, insists that urgent negotiations are needed on a new international treaty that will ban and restrict autonomous weapons systems in order to stop progress towards a future of automated killing.
