UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged rules governing the use of autonomous weapons. He said this at the opening of the Review Conference of the Convention on ‘inhumane’ weapons in Geneva, according to Reuters.
Participants in the treaty have spent eight years debating limits on lethal autonomous weapons, which are fully controlled by machines and rely on technologies such as artificial intelligence and facial recognition. However pressure has grown partly in response to a recent report by the organisation, which spoke of the first possible attack by autonomous drones against targets in Libya.
“I call on the Review Conference to agree on an ambitious plan for the future to impose restrictions on the use of certain types of autonomous weapons,” said Guterres.
Some participating states, such as Austria, have argued for a total ban on autonomous weapons, while others, including the United States, have been more cautious. They cited potential advantages of such systems, which could be more accurate than humans at hitting targets.
France’s ambassador for disarmament, Yan Hwang, who presided over the negotiations, urged “key and vital decisions.” However, diplomats say that a consensus-based body is unlikely to reach agreement on launching an international treaty. They expect resistance from some countries, notably Russia.
“There is not sufficient support at this stage to launch the treaty, but we think that some principles may be agreed for implementation at the national level,” said the diplomat involved in the talks.
Convention on ‘inhumane’ weapons has 125 participants, including Russia, the United States and China.
Earlier in June, it was reported that a strike quadcopter first attacked a person without an operator’s orders during clashes in Libya.
In July Israel used swarm of drones with artificial intelligence in real combat.
In September, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called for banning some kinds of AI.
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