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‘Machine warfare is coming’: US, China urged to address military AI as global rules stall

UN think tank chief calls for pragmatic dialogue on AI warfare amid ‘dangerous’ security environment

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Experts warn that AI is reshaping military operations on a grand scale. Photo: Shutterstock
Carol Yangin Beijing
The head of a top UN security think tank has warned that the international community, along with industry, must pivot to pragmatic dialogue on artificial intelligence (AI) in warfare, as a major global regulatory convention remains unlikely in the short term.
“Machine warfare is coming,” said Robin Geiss, director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (Unidir), during a lecture at Tsinghua University in Beijing on Tuesday. He warned that AI was reshaping military operations on a grand scale, driven by autonomous weapon systems and an unprecedented acceleration in the pace of battle.

“Proliferation pressures, a lot of tension in the world, not enough discussion among the superpowers around nuclear weapons, plus AI destabilising the entire system – that is just not a good mix,” Geiss said, describing the current global security environment as “dangerous”.

The Unidir chief conceded that a global convention on regulating AI for military use was unrealistic in the current geopolitical climate. However, he noted that countries broadly agreed on core principles: international humanitarian law must apply to AI weaponry, human control over the use of force must be maintained, and nuclear command and control should remain strictly outside the ambit of AI.

To stave off an unintended crisis, Geiss floated the idea of a moratorium on crossing critical technical thresholds, which would be defined by scientists.

“If I could make a wish, I think that would be an issue that should be addressed between the United States and China,” he said.

Zhou Bo, a retired senior colonel in the People’s Liberation Army, said at the event that China and the US, as the dominant AI powers, should lead the rule-making rather than waiting for Europe to take action.

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