Holy See calls on UN to end AI weapons development

Holy See calls on UN to end AI weapons development https://www.holyseegeneva.org/media/muvjr2ua/26-aug-2024-gge-laws.pdf Statement of H.E. Ettore Balestrero, Permanent Observer to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva to the Second Session of the 2024 Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on Emerging Technologies in the Area of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) General Exchange of Views Geneva, 26 August 2024 Statement of H.E. Ettore Balestrero, Permanent Observer to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva to the Second Session of the 2024 Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on Emerging Technologies in the Area of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) General Exchange of Views Geneva, 26 August 2024 Mr. Chair, At the outset, please allow me to thank you for all the preparatory work that you have conducted in advance of this second session of the Group of Governmental Experts (GGE). In particular, my Delegation wishes to thank you for the “rolling text” that you have provided, which constitutes a valuable foundation upon which to build a shared understanding. Speaking to the G7 leaders gathered in Italy last June, Pope Francis urged them to “reconsider the development and use of devices like the so-called “lethal autonomous weapons” and ultimately ban their use. This starts from an effective and concrete commitment to introduce ever greater and proper human control. No machine should ever choose to take the life of a human being.”1 For the Holy See, given the pace of technological advancements and the research on weaponization of artificial intelligence, it is of the utmost urgency to deliver concrete results in the form of a solid legally binding instrument and in the meantime to establish an immediate moratorium on their development and use. In this regard, it is profoundly distressing that, adding to the suffering caused by armed conflicts, the battlefields are also becoming testing grounds for more and more sophisticated weapons.