Mr Chair, thank you for organising today’s Security Dialogue on the topic of Responsible Military Use of New and Emerging Technologies.
We should consider how to seize the opportunities associated with new and emerging technologies and address the potential risks posed by their misuse. We are also grateful to the panellists for their presentations and valuable insights. Discussing Responsible Military Use of New and Emerging Technologies is relevant now and in the future, as we witness their increasing impact on security and defence sectors.
The responsible military use of technologies, is a fundamental aspect of the pol-mil Dimension and the Code of Conduct on polilitco-militiary Aspects of Security. According to paragraph 34 of the Code each participating State will ensure that armed forces, amongst others, are equipped in ways that are consistent with the provisions of international law and respective obligations and commitments of other international regulations. Furthermore according to paragraph 24 of the Code each participating State will provide and maintain measures to guard against accidental or unauthorized use of military means.
Emerging technologies, notably artificial intelligence and autonomous weapons systems, are reshaping the landscape of conflict and global security. The EU and its Member States consider it imperative that we collectively address these challenges by establishing principles, norms and regulations to ensure the responsible use of such technologies.
We recognise that artificial intelligence is both an enabling and a disruptive technology and that there are both potential opportunities and risks associated with its development and use in the military domain, including its implications for global security. The EU and its Member States encourage further engagement in international dialogue and cooperation to address the opportunities and challenges presented by artificial intelligence in the military domain. We support efforts in relevant fora to exchange best practices and foster a common understanding of the legal and ethical implications, and we welcome the valuable contributions of recent international and regional initiatives. At the occasion of the AI Action Summit in Paris on 10-11 February the “Paris Declaration on maintaining human control in AI enabled weapon systems” was endorsed by 27 countries recalling IHL commitments and promoting ambitious principles of responsible use of AI in the military domain. We support discussions on developing principles for the responsible military use of artificial intelligence (AI) in relevant fora. With AI increasingly affecting all stages of the conflict cycle, it is crucial to address the opportunities and challenges AI provides for international peace and security.
With regard to emerging technologies in the area of lethal autonomous weapons systems, the so-called two-tier approach offers a path for their possible prohibition and regulation, with a distinction made between those weapon systems that cannot be used in accordance with international law, in particular IHL, which States should commit not to develop, produce or use, and systems that include autonomous features, requiring regulation to ensure compliance with international humanitarian law and other applicable international law.
The EU and its Member States emphasise that human beings must make decisions with regard to the use of force, must exert control over lethal autonomous weapons systems that they use and remain accountable for decisions over the use of force in order to ensure compliance with international law, in particular IHL, taking into account ethical considerations. Human responsibility for decisions on the use of force must be retained and human accountability must be preserved at all times and across the entire life cycle of the weapons system, and appropriate measures implemented.
Finally, as mentioned technologies are currently used extensively to strengthen military capabilities and boost operational efficiency in several aspects, new and emerging technologies are highly likely to further transform the way that conflicts are conducted and resolved. We recall that States bear a fundamental responsibility to ensure that the development, production, deployment and use of emerging technologies in the area of LAWS will be in compliance with international law, in particular IHL. At the same time, we witness that the gender gap remains in fields such as programming, software development or AI research, and even basic access to and the use of digital technologies. This heightens the risk of gender bias being included in AI algorithms and we must continue efforts to prevent this scenario.
Russia also uses new and emerging technologies in its unprovoked, unjustifiable and illegal war of aggression against Ukraine. With it, the Russian Federation’s violations of international law, the UN Charter and the spirit of Helsinki continue.
This underlines the importance of the topic.
Thank you.