Austria Urges Regulation On The Use Of Artificial Intelligence In Armed Systems

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (photo: x @a_schallenberg)

JAKARTA - Austria is proposing new efforts to regulate the use of artificial intelligence in weapons systems that can create so-called 'killer robots'. The country is currently hosting a conference aimed at reviving largely stalled talks on the issue.

With artificial intelligence technology growing rapidly, weapons systems that can kill without human intervention are getting closer, which poses ethical and legal challenges that most countries say need to be addressed immediately.

"We must not miss this moment without taking action. Now is the time to agree on international rules and norms to ensure human control," Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg told a meeting of non-governmental and international organizations and envoys from 143 countries.

"At least, let's make sure that the deepest and broadest decision, who lives and who dies, remains in the hands of humans and not machines," he said in a speech opening the conference entitled "Humanity at Road Intersection: Autonomous Weapon System and Regulatory Challenges".

Years of discussion at the United Nations have yielded little tangible results and many conference attendees for the two days in Vienna say that the window for action is closing quickly.

"It is very important to act and act very quickly," said the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric, during a panel discussion at the conference.

"What we see today in different violent contexts is moral failure in the presence of the international community. And we don't want to see such failures accelerated by giving responsibility for violence, over control over violence, to machines and algorithms," he added.

Artificial intelligence is already in use on the battlefield. Drones in Ukraine are designed to find their own way towards the target when signaling technology decides them from the operator, diplomats say.

The United States said this month it was investigating media reports that the Israeli military had used artificial intelligence to help identify bombing targets in Gaza.