Automation, especially with the help of Artificial Intelligence, should make all kinds of processes faster, more efficient and more precise. The aim is to bypass humans as a limiting factor and create competitive advantages. In the military, this takes on a directly existential dimension: for some years now, artificial intelligence systems have increasingly become part of military equipment and machinery. They can support, prepare or even independently carry out combat operations. In the military, this takes on a directly existential dimension: for some years now, artificial intelligence systems have increasingly become part of military equipment and machinery. Although corresponding negotiations were initiated at UN level in 2013, it has not even been decided among the states involved whether regulation will even be sought. The process is to be continued in Geneva at the beginning of March 2022, but even before Russia’s attack on Ukraine on 24 February 2022, observers saw little chance of a productive process – the supposed advantage that militaries see in LAWS is too great for them to want to commit to renouncing it.
One of the observers of the negotiations within the framework of the UN Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) is Anja Dahlmann, head of Berlin Office of the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg and member of the International Panel on the Regulation of Autonomous Weapons (iPRAW). In this episode of Digitalgespräch, the political scientist explains the significance and status of the negotiations and outlines the positions taken by various states. She describes which weapons systems are at stake, how and by whom they are being developed and what we know about their progress. With hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring, Dahlmann discusses what regulatory attempts are aiming at and why they are being pushed forward despite all resistance. The interview was recorded on 17 February 2022, one week before Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
Further informationen:
Link to Anja Dahlmann’s profile on the website of the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy of Universität Hamburg: https://ifsh.de/en/staff/dahlmann
Link to Campaign to Stop Killer Robots : https://www.stopkillerrobots.org/
Link to iPRAW : https://www.ipraw.org/
all episodes of Digitalgespräch
The podcast is in German. At the moment there is no English version or transcript available.