San Francisco: The United States should not agree to ban the use or development of autonomous weapons powered by artificial intelligence (AI) software, a government-appointed panel said in a draft report for Congress.
Thirty countries including Brazil and Pakistan want a ban, according to the coalition’s website, and a United Nations body has held meetings on the systems since at least 2014.
The panel, led by former Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt, on Tuesday concluded two days of public discussion about how the world’s biggest military power should consider AI for national security and technological advancement.
Its Vice Chairman Robert Work, a former deputy secretary of defense, said autonomous weapons are expected to make fewer mistakes than humans do in battle, leading to reduced casualties or skirmishes caused by target misidentification.
“It is a moral imperative to at least pursue this hypothesis,” he said.
The discussion waded into a controversial frontier of human rights and warfare. For about eight years, a coalition of non-governmental organizations has pushed for a treaty banning “killer robots,” saying human control is necessary to judge attacks’ proportionality and assign blame for war crimes. While autonomous weapon capabilities are decades old, concern has mounted with the development of AI to power such systems, along with research finding biases in AI and examples of the software’s abuse.
The U.S. panel, called the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, in meetings this week acknowledged the risks of autonomous weapons. A member from Microsoft Corp for instance warned of pressure to build machines that react quickly, which could escalate conflicts.
The panel only wants humans to make decisions on launching nuclear warheads.
Still, the panel prefers anti-proliferation work to a treaty banning the systems, which it said would be against U.S. interests and difficult to enforce.
Mary Wareham, coordinator of the eight-year Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, said, the commission’s “focus on the need to compete with similar investments made by China and Russia ... only serves to encourage arms races.”
Beyond AI-powered weapons, the panel’s lengthy report recommended use of AI by intelligence agencies to streamline data gathering and review; $32 billion in annual federal funding for AI research; and new bodies including a digital corps modeled after the army’s Medical Corps and a technology competitiveness council chaired by the U.S. vice president.
The commission is due to submit its final report to Congress in March, but the recommendations are not binding.
US commission cites 'moral imperative' to develop AI weapons as Pakistan calls for ban
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US commission cites 'moral imperative' to develop AI weapons as Pakistan calls for ban
- For about eight years, a coalition of non-governmental organizations has pushed for a treaty banning “killer robots,” saying human control is necessary
- Thirty countries including Brazil and Pakistan want a ban and a United Nations body has held meetings on the systems since at least 2014
At UN, Pakistan condemns attacks against Gulf states, calls for immediate de-escalation
- Iran targeted American military bases in Gulf states on Saturday after initial Israel, US strikes
- Pakistan’s envoy says safety of millions of Pakistanis in Gulf region Islamabad’s top priority
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s envoy at the United Nations this week condemned attacks against Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states amid rising tensions in the Middle East after Israeli and US strikes on Iran triggered retaliatory attacks, calling on all sides to immediately halt escalation.
Tensions surged across the Middle East on Saturday after Israel said it launched a “pre-emptive” attack against Iran, dimming hopes for a diplomatic solution to Tehran’s long-running nuclear dispute with the West. US President Donald Trump later confirmed in a video statement that the US had also taken part in the strikes.
Iran subsequently targeted American military bases in Gulf states, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan, prompting regional governments to issue condemnations. Saudi Arabia also confirmed Iran launched attacks in Riyadh and the Eastern Province, saying they were successfully intercepted.
During a UN Security Council briefing on Saturday, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Asim Iftikhar Ahmad condemned the “initiation of unwarranted attacks” against Iran, describing them as a violation of international law.
“Pakistan also condemns the attacks against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, and stands in solidarity with all these brotherly countries and underscores the need to exercise maximum restraint,” Ahmad said.
Ahmad said the attack was unfortunate, noting that several Arab countries were supporting Iran’s dialogue with the US on its nuclear program.
The Pakistani envoy also condemned the death of a Pakistani national in the UAE caused by Iran’s attack on Saturday.
He said Islamabad is “deeply alarmed” at surging regional tensions, adding that the safety and well-being of millions of Pakistani nationals in the Gulf region was also Islamabad’s “top priority.”
“Diplomacy and dialogue should be the guiding principles for achieving negotiated settlement of all contentious issues in accordance with the rights, obligations, and responsibilities of the parties concerned,” he said.
“Pakistan calls on all sides to immediately halt escalation, and urgently resume diplomacy with a view to achieving a peaceful, negotiated resolution to the crisis.”
Iranian state media confirmed early Sunday that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack by Israel and the US, further raising regional tensions.
State media reported that the 86-year-old was killed in an airstrike targeting his compound in downtown Tehran. Satellite photos from Airbus showed the site heavily bombed.
Iran’s Ali Shamkhani, top adviser to the supreme leader, and Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammed Pakpour have also been killed, IRNA reported.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard also warned of “a severe, decisive and regret-inducing punishment” coming over Khamenei’s killing.
