Will killer robots be banned after a conference in Geneva?

Dear reader,

Last week in Geneva, the Group of Governmental Experts of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons concluded three years of work on the burning issue of “killer robots”. After heated discussions, the 128 member states of the Convention managed to agree on a definition of these weapons and to establish certain basic principles.

Autonomous weapons capable of targeting people without human intervention have been a concern for several years at the United Nations and the Red Cross (ICRC), which have been calling for their regulation. According to them, these systems may not be able to distinguish, in real time, between a combatant and a person protected by international humanitarian law, such as a wounded soldier.

Last month, at a press conference at the Palais des Nations, the UN and the ICRC could not confirm whether such weapons had ever been used. Some media outlets have reported cases of Ukrainian drones boosted with artificial intelligence, and the United States has reportedly used AI to identify targets in the Middle East, but this does not rule out human control. What is certain is that the development of these weapons is underway and that their deployment on the battlefields is only a matter of time.

All eyes are now on the next review conference of the Convention, which takes place every five years and will be held at the end of November in Geneva. Countries will then have the opportunity to open real negotiations on a future international treaty governing these weapons. Will they do so? How far will they be willing to go? Will they agree to introduce bans? The question remains open.

The issue goes beyond killer robots alone. Several humanitarian disarmament treaties have faced setbacks in recent years, notably with the withdrawal of several countries from the convention banning anti-personnel mines. In this context, the opening of talks would send a strong signal that despite geopolitical tensions, it is still possible to agree on rules limiting certain weapons.

We’ll find out in November.

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Best regards,
Dorian Burkhalter

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