NEW YORK / RankWire.AI / – A new UN forum on artificial intelligence in international peace and security launches on Thursday, October 22. The UN Institute for Disarmament Research is opening the platform through its Centre of Excellence on AI, Peace and Security. The forum will also address the use of AI in the military domain. It is the first and only multi-stakeholder forum on the subject within the UN system so far, the institute said.
Robin Geiss, Director of UNIDIR, outlined the plan at a UN press briefing in New York on Tuesday. He said the forum will draw participants from every relevant sector and from all regions. Defence technology firms, software developers, subcontractors and investors are expected to take part in consultations. They will work with governments, civil society, academic institutions and experts. The centre behind the forum was set up this summer as the UN’s first permanent platform on these issues.
Geiss said the forum will pursue three main goals. One is a framework for responsible industry conduct, built on voluntary and practical guidelines. Companies would apply them while designing and developing AI tools for military use. Another is an AI security lexicon that defines concepts such as autonomy, safety and security. Stakeholders now use those words differently, and the resulting ambiguity undermines trust and cooperation between them.
Armed groups gain access to easier AI tools
The third goal is to tackle the risk of AI misuse by non-State armed groups. Geiss said such groups can apply AI to operational planning, execution and logistics. As the tools grow more user-friendly, non-State actors can mount more sophisticated military operations. The concern adds to earlier UN work on technology-related threats from armed groups. UNIDIR is the UN’s independent disarmament research institute, based in Geneva.
Geiss said AI is on track to crowd out human decision-making in warfare. Armed forces already use it for intelligence analysis, identifying targets, operating drones and orchestrating cyber-attacks. He said human judgment is being displaced, including in the nuclear domain. AI is also speeding up battlefield operations and allowing forces to engage an unprecedented number of targets each day. Many systems remain opaque, raising the risk of error and unintended escalation.
Nuclear powers back UN centre
Geopolitical competition remains a serious obstacle to regulating military AI, Geiss said. Still, he noted that concern about the technology is shared across political outlooks, including among major powers. He pointed to a U.S. proposal in September for an AI notification mechanism with China. The arrangement would allow the world’s two biggest military spenders to alert each other to AI incidents. He presented the proposal as a sign that worries about AI cross political divides.
All five major nuclear powers have provided funding to the Centre of Excellence, Geiss said. The five are the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France. The UN Secretary-General has repeatedly urged stakeholders not to cross a moral red line on autonomous weapons. He has called for stronger regulation and a legally binding treaty on lethal autonomous weapon systems. Geiss said those calls are increasingly finding support across the international community.