Online Desk:  Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud has called upon the international community to get away with any new weapons let alone autonomous weapons for the sake of humanity.

He was speaking at an international conference titled ‘Humanity at the Crossroads: Autonomous Weapons Systems and the Challenge of Regulation’ in Vienna.

The Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs is hosting the international conference “Humanity at the Crossroads: Autonomous Weapons Systems and the Challenge of Regulation” on April 29-30 in the Hofburg Palace in Vienna.

Hasan participated in a high-level panel discussion on the challenges of regulating the autonomous weapon systems, where Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, Costa Rican Foreign Minister Arnoldo André Tinoco, Norwegian State Secretary Eivind Vad Petersson and President of the International Committee of the Red Cross Mirjana Spoljaric Egger also joined as co-panelists.

The foreign minister also underscored the importance of benevolent application of AI in agriculture, medical science, space exploration, climate change, job creation, etc. for the benefit of mankind, and not in weapon systems to wipe out humanity.

He posed a question about what would happen to international peace and security, if the non-state actors and terrorist organisations get access to AI-driven autonomous weapon systems.

He highlighted the importance of preserving human control over the use of force.

He underscored that machines with the power and discretion to take human lives must be prohibited by legally binding international laws both for AI and autonomous weapons.

He suggested setting global norms to effectively regulate the autonomous weapons systems. Highlighting the precarious situation in Gaza, he also cautioned the international community against opening a new front of conflicts and tensions.

The Ministry of European and International Affairs of Austria has organised the conference and it is being participated by more than 800 delegates from over 120  states, UN bodies, rights groups and INGOs.

The increased autonomy of weapons through the introduction of artificial intelligence will fundamentally transform armed conflicts.

Autonomous weapons systems (AWS) raise profound questions from a legal, ethical, humanitarian and security perspective.

Humanity is at a crossroads and must come together to address the fundamental challenge of regulating these weapons, said the host country.

In the first-ever UN General Assembly resolution on lethal autonomous weapons systems in 2023, an overwhelming majority of States underlined the urgent need for the international community to address the challenges and concerns raised by autonomous weapons systems.

Austria is hosting the conference in the hope of further advancing the debate on an international regulation of AWS.

All States, the United Nations, the ICRC, international and regional organisations, representatives of academia, think tanks, industry and civil society are invited to participate and to discuss the fundamental issues and various challenges related to AWS and their international regulation.