|
Negotiators at the U.N. talks have for eight years been
discussing limits on lethal autonomous weapons, or LAWS, which
are fully machine-controlled and rely on new technology such as
artificial intelligence and facial recognition.
But pressure has increased in part due to a U.N. panel report in
March that said the first autonomous drone attack may have
already occurred in Libya.
"I encourage the Review Conference to agree on an ambitious plan
for the future to establish restrictions on the use of certain
types of autonomous weapons," Guterres said at the start of the
five-day talks.
The Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons has 125 parties
including the United States, China and Israel.
Some participating states such as Austria call for a total ban
on LAWS while others including Washington have been more
reticent and have pointed to potential benefits of such weapons
which might be more precise than humans in hitting targets.
Amnesty International and civil society groups are calling for
countries to start negotiating an international treaty and will
present a petition to negotiators later on Monday.
"The pace of technology is really beginning to outpace the rate
of diplomatic talks," said Clare Conboy of Stop Killer Robots.
"(This) is a historic opportunity for states to take steps to
safeguard humanity against autonomy in the use of force."
France's Disarmament Ambassador Yann Hwang, who is president of
the talks, called for "key and vital decisions" to be taken this
week. However, diplomats say the body, which requires consensus,
is unlikely to reach agreement launching an international
treaty, with Russia among others expected to oppose such a step.
"There is not enough support to launch a treaty at this stage
but we think some principles could be agreed for national
implementation," said a diplomat involved in the talks.
If no agreement can be reached, countries might move talks to
another forum either inside or outside the United Nations.
(Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Giles Elgood)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
