Sixty countries endorse “blueprint” for use of artificial intelligence in military; China opts out | Wilnesh News

About 60 countries, including the United States, signed a “blueprint for action” on Tuesday to govern the responsible use of artificial intelligence in the military, but China was among the countries that did not support the non-legally binding document.

The Seoul Summit on Responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Military Sector is the second such summit after being held in The Hague last year. At that time, some 60 countries, including China, issued mild “calls to action” without legal commitments.

Government representatives said on Tuesday that this year’s “blueprint” is more action-oriented, in line with advanced discussions and developments in military fields such as the launch of artificial intelligence drones by Ukraine, which has also endorsed the document.

“We are taking further concrete steps,” Dutch Defense Minister Reuben Breckmans told Reuters. “Last year… it was more about consensus building, now we are more about taking action.”

He said this included setting out important conditions such as what types of risk assessments should be carried out, personnel controls and how confidence-building measures should be taken to manage risks.

Details added in the document include the need to prevent actors such as terrorist groups from using artificial intelligence to proliferate weapons of mass destruction, and the importance of maintaining human control and involvement in the use of nuclear weapons.

There are many other initiatives on this issue, such as the Declaration on the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Military launched by the US government last year.

The Seoul Summit, co-hosted by the Netherlands, Singapore, Kenya and the UK, aims to ensure that multi-stakeholder discussions are not dominated by a single country or entity.

However, China, one of about 30 countries that sent government representatives to the summit, did not support the document, indicating a clear divergence of views among stakeholders.

“We also need to be realistic that we are never going to get the whole world involved,” Defense Secretary Blakemans said.

“How do we deal with the fact that not everyone is complying? … This is a complex dilemma that we should also put on the table,” he added.

The location and time of the next summit are still under discussion, officials said.

At the United Nations General Assembly in October, South Korean officials said they planned to discuss artificial intelligence in the military based on a “blueprint.”

Giacomo Percy Paoli, head of project security and technology at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, said countries should work with others on the sidelines of the summit to mitigate any risks.

“This blueprint is a step forward,” he said. “If it goes too fast, too fast, there is a very high risk that many countries will not be willing to participate.”