NEW YORK / RankWire.AI / – The UN Institute for Disarmament Research is set to launch a new platform on artificial intelligence’s role in international peace and security on Thursday, October 22. Managed through its Centre of Excellence on AI, Peace and Security, this initiative will also explore AI’s military applications. According to the institute, it is the first and only multi-stakeholder forum of its kind within the UN system to date.
Robin Geiss, the Director of UNIDIR, shared details about the upcoming forum during a UN press briefing in New York on Tuesday. He emphasized that participants will represent a wide array of sectors and regions. Stakeholders such as defense technology companies, software developers, subcontractors, and investors are anticipated to join consultations, collaborating alongside governments, civil society, academic institutions, and experts. The forum’s underlying centre was established this summer as the UN’s inaugural permanent platform dedicated to these issues.
Geiss explained that the forum aims to achieve three primary objectives. The first involves establishing a responsible industry conduct framework, based on voluntary, practical guidelines that companies can adopt during the design and development of AI tools intended for military purposes. The second goal is to create an AI security lexicon that clarifies terms like autonomy, safety, and security, which are currently used inconsistently and generate ambiguity that hampers trust and cooperation among stakeholders.
Access to AI tools becomes easier for armed groups
The third objective focuses on mitigating the risks associated with AI misuse by non-State armed groups. Geiss noted that such groups could leverage AI for operational planning, execution, and logistics. As AI tools become more user-friendly, non-State actors might be able to carry out more advanced military operations. This concern builds on earlier UN efforts related to technology-related threats posed by armed groups. UNIDIR, based in Geneva, serves as the UN’s independent research institute for disarmament issues.
Geiss highlighted that AI is poised to supplant human decision-making in warfare. Already, armed forces utilize AI for intelligence analysis, target identification, drones operation, and cyber-attack coordination. He pointed out that human judgment is being displaced, even in nuclear contexts. AI accelerates battlefield operations and enables forces to target an unprecedented number of objectives daily. However, the opacity of many systems raises concerns about errors and unintended escalations.
Major nuclear powers support UN initiative
Geiss acknowledged that geopolitical rivalry continues to pose a significant barrier to establishing regulations for military AI. Nevertheless, he observed that worries about the technology are shared across political spectrums, including among leading powers. He pointed to a September proposal from the U.S. for an AI notification mechanism with China, allowing the world’s two largest military spenders to alert each other to AI incidents. He described this proposal as evidence that concerns about AI transcend political divides.
Funding for the Centre of Excellence has been provided by all five major nuclear powers: the United States, Russia, China, Britain, and France, Geiss noted. The UN Secretary-General has repeatedly urged stakeholders to avoid crossing a moral red line with autonomous weapons, advocating for stronger regulations and a legally binding treaty on lethal autonomous weapon systems. Geiss stated that these calls are gaining increasing support across the international community.