On April 30th, governments worldwide received a warning that regulatory mechanisms for the next generation of AI killer robots may face more urgent time pressures.
With autonomous weapon systems rapidly spreading on battlefields like Ukraine and Gaza, algorithms and drones have begun assisting military planners in deciding whether to launch attacks. In the near future, this decision-making power may be entirely in the hands of machines.
"This is the Oppenheimer moment of our generation," said Alexander Schallenberg, the Foreign Minister of Austria. He referred to J. Robert Oppenheimer, a scientist who assisted in inventing the atomic bomb in 1945 and later became an advocate for nuclear weapons control.
On Monday, civilian, military, and technology officials from over 100 countries gathered in Vienna to discuss how to economically control the fusion of artificial intelligence and military technology. These two fields have recently piqued investors' interest, driving stock valuations to historic highs.
Jaan Tallinn, an early investor in Google's parent company Alphabet's AI platform DeepMind, pointed out that the ongoing global conflicts, coupled with financial incentives for companies to promote AI, are making the challenge of controlling killer robots increasingly daunting. He added, "The incentives in Silicon Valley may not entirely align with other parts of human society."
Many countries have already begun collaborating with companies to integrate AI tools into their defense systems. The U.S. Department of Defense is pouring significant funds into AI startups. Last week, the EU also provided funding to Thales to create an image database to assist in evaluating battlefield targets.
According to the Israeli magazine "+972" based in Tel Aviv, Israel is using an AI program called "Lavender" to identify assassination targets. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed deep concern over this, emphasizing that life-and-death decisions should not be left to indifferent algorithms.
"The future of slaughter robots is already upon us," asserted physicist Anthony Aguirre. He foresaw the evolution of this technology in a 2017 short film that attracted over 1.6 million viewers. He said, "We urgently need an arms control treaty negotiated by the UN General Assembly."
However, Alexander Kmentt, the highest-ranking military officer in Austria and the organizer of this week's meeting, believes that advocates for diplomatic solutions may face setbacks in the short term. He emphasized, "Traditional arms control methods are not applicable here because we are not discussing a single weapon system but the complex integration of dual-use military-civilian technologies."
Kmentt suggested that countries may have to rely on existing legal tools rather than reaching a completely new major treaty. He further stated that enforcing export controls and strengthening humanitarian regulations could help curb the proliferation of AI weapon systems.
Arnoldo André Tinoco, the Foreign Minister of Costa Rica, predicted that in the long run, as non-state actors and potential terrorists gain access to this technology, countries will have to establish entirely new rules.
Tinoco also noted, "The proliferation of autonomous weapons has broken previous constraints that ensured only a few could participate in the arms race. Today, students with 3D printers and basic programming knowledge can create drones capable of causing widespread casualties. Autonomous weapon systems have fundamentally altered our understanding of international stability."
