US proposes to use AI responsibly on the battlefield

The US government has released a declaration on the use of artificial intelligence in the military, including “human responsibility”. Writes about it techxplore.

“We invite all states to join us in implementing international norms regarding military development and the use of AI and autonomous weapons,” said Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control Bonnie Jenkins.

According to her, the new technology can change the way war is fought, so the world community needs to streamline its use.

“Because this is a rapidly changing technology, we have an obligation to create strong norms of responsible behavior regarding the use of AI for military purposes and in a way that bears in mind that the use of AI by the military will undoubtedly change in the coming years,” she said.

The official noted that the declaration is not legally binding. The document can become the basis for future international cooperation, she believes.

Jenkins released the declaration at the end of a two-day conference in The Hague on the use of AI in military affairs. The document contains 12 paragraphs. Among the key proposals:

• use of technology in accordance with international law;
• maintaining human control over the adoption and implementation of sovereign decisions regarding the use of nuclear weapons.

60 countries, including the US and China, spoke at the conference calling for broad cooperation on the use of autonomous technologies in the military.

“We have time to mitigate risks and prevent AI from getting out of control. […]. We will prevent AI from taking us where we don’t want to be,” said Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra.

The official emphasized “the importance of providing adequate safeguards and human control over the use of autonomous systems, taking into account the limitations due to time and capacity constraints.”

Chinese Ambassador to the Netherlands Tang Jian recalled that Beijing had sent two documents to the UN to regulate military AI applications. According to him, this issue “concerns the general security and well-being of mankind, which requires a unified response from all countries.”

Participating countries also proposed to “develop national frameworks, strategies and principles for responsible AI in the military sphere.”