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Key points
- Control requires two types of autonomous weapons: weapons whose actions are “unpredictable” and weapons that target humans
- Advances in AI could reduce human control over the use of deadly force
- Countries are urged to begin negotiations on a legally binding agreement
The timing of the appeal reflects growing concerns that more advanced weapons are being created and deployed at ever greater speed and scale, powered by increasingly sophisticated AI technology. Disarmament experts say even weapons manufacturers want clarity on the legal issues at stake.
“We are now close to crossing a moral red line: the autonomous targeting of humans by machines,” said UN Secretary General Guterres, in a joint appeal with International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) chair Mirjana Spoljaric Egger.
Targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure in conflict is strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law, but understanding who non-combatants are in conflict zones is often very difficult. The worry is that life and death decisions will be made by machines that are unable to discern changing conditions.
Legal and ethical principles
Echoing those concerns in Geneva, the head of disarmament affairs at the UN Geneva, Mélanie Régimbal, stressed that the UN Secretary-General’s long-standing position that systems that select or engage targets and take human lives without human control and judgment are “politically unacceptable, morally repugnant and must be prohibited under international law”.
Also in Geneva, the ICRC’s Laurent Gisel described how the conflict “is not a story of precision, distinction and control. It is a story of civilians killed, families displaced, hospitals, schools and homes destroyed at greater speed and scale.”
In situations like these, “things can change very quickly”, explained Mr Gisel, Head of the Arms and Hostile Conduct Unit at the ICRC. “A combatant may surrender or be wounded and therefore be protected from attack; civilians may enter the area of operation of an autonomous weapons system; the weapon may encounter unanticipated situations.”
In their call, Guterres and Egger noted that autonomous weapons “are not part of the distant future,” as the race toward greater autonomy is already underway. They note that scientists and engineers developing such systems have also raised concerns about the risks.
Countries are being urged to act
The UN and ICRC are now urging governments not to enter into discussions and start negotiations on a legally binding instrument that sets out clear prohibitions and restrictions.
“Countries must show political courage and move beyond incremental discussions to decisive action,” they said, warning that failure to act could leave future generations in a world where accountability for deadly decisions becomes increasingly difficult to establish.
The application comes ahead of the seventh Conference on the Review of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), which is scheduled to take place in November in Geneva. UN and Red Cross leaders described the meeting as “the clearest path available” for countries to agree to negotiate a legally binding instrument.
An important foundation for this agreement has been established through discussions at the UN General Assembly and the CCW Group of Governmental Experts, they said, including progress in defining the human assessments and controls required to ensure compliance with international humanitarian law.
The UN and ICRC first issued their joint appeal in 2023, calling on countries to negotiate a legally binding instrument by 2026. Their initial statement emphasized that human control must be maintained over life and death decisions and that machines capable of taking lives without human involvement should be prohibited under international law.
Tuesday’s appeal renews that deadline-driven push, emphasizing that the hard work of recent years must now lead to action.
“We urge countries to seize this moment,” the leaders said. “Innovation should benefit humanity – not harm it.”
The joint call is for two types of autonomous weapons to be banned:
- Unpredictable autonomous weapons; things that either by design or during use, the operator cannot predict or anticipate the consequences of the forces applied. “If it cannot be predicted, then how can it be limited?asked Mr. Gisel from the ICRC.
- Anti-personnel weapons: although “all states” have acknowledged that autonomous weapons in general raise ethical questions due to the lack of controls on the use of force, the greatest concern is with weapons that deliberately target humans “because they reduce human life to data, algorithms, sensors and the operation of machines”, stressed the ICRC expert.
