Research Themes

Political Process

This research theme keeps track of the international, political debate on autonomous weapons systems, including their potential regulation. Since 2014, this debate has chiefly taken place under the auspices of the Convention of Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) and in the form of a Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS) since 2017, hosted at the United Nations in Geneva. But the research theme also maps other developments relevant to a governance of weaponised AI outside the UN context. 

Articles on Political Processes

Political Process

AI Summits and Declarations: Symbolism or Substance?

The UK’s AI Safety Summit, held on 1-2 November at Bletchley Park, has generated different types of responses from experts and commentators. Some praise it as a “major diplomatic breakthrough” for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, especially as he managed to get 28 signatures, including those of China, the EU, and

Read More »
Political Process

Global Governance of AI in the Military Domain

The AutoNorms team has submitted the short paper below to the United Nations Office of the Secretary General’s Envoy on Technology. In preparation for the first meeting of the Multi-stakeholder High-level Advisory Body on AI, the Office issued a call for papers on global AI governance. AutoNorms’ submission, written by

Read More »
Human - Machine Interaction

Five Questions We Often Get Asked About AI in Weapon Systems and Our Answers

By Anna Nadibaidze and Ingvild Bode The ongoing integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous technologies in weapon systems raises many questions across a variety of fields, including ethics, law, philosophy, and international security. As part of the AutoNorms project, we have contributed to many of these discussions over the

Read More »
Political Process

‘Responsible AI’ in the Military Domain: Implications for Regulation

This blog is based on the regulation subpanel of the Realities of Algorithmic Warfare breakout session, held at the REAIM Summit 2023. Watch the full breakout session here. The global debate on military applications of artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomy is gradually expanding beyond autonomous weapon systems (AWS) towards the

Read More »
Political Process

AutoNorms at the UN GGE on LAWS in March 2023

The AutoNorms team regularly participates in meetings of the United Nations Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on emerging technologies in the area of lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS). The GGE meetings take place in Geneva and bring together delegations of state parties to the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons

Read More »
Political Process

Has REAIM “Re-aimed” AI Applications in the Military Domain?

A positive step towards regulating the development and growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in warfare was taken during a two-day conference in The Hague in February 2023, namely the Global Summit on Responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Military Domain (REAIM). As an initiative of the Dutch government in partnership

Read More »