Why would we need a treaty on AI weapons? Anna Hehir is head of military AI governance at the Future of Life Institute and she’s been observing multilateral efforts to regulate automated weapon systems, before it's too late. It’s not so much the killer robots – but rather, humans relinquishing control over targeting for lethal attacks. When you fire at 1000 targets a day and then you hit a school, you can just point your finger at the algorithm. AI allows human responsibility to fade away, she says. The UN gave countries until the end of 2026 to come up with wording for a treaty on AI weapons. Most governments want to regulate automatic weapon systems and prohibit the most unpredictable ones, but there are several powerful holdouts. Which countries are getting in the way of a treaty, and why?
Hosted by energy and climate finance expert Kate Mackenzie, and Tim Sahay from the Net Zero Industrial Policy Lab at Johns Hopkins University. They co-author The Polycrisis newsletter, which explores connections between energy, geopolitics, climate change, finance and industry.
- Produced by Sarah Allely
- Original music by Russell Stapleton
- Mixed by Bethany Stewart
Contact us at: [email protected]
Texts we refer to:
Pope Leo XIV’s Encyclical this year stressed the dangers of autonomous weapons systems, including algorithmic decision-making and the detachment of human responsibility. The Pope and the Vatican has been influential in the push to regulate and control AI weapons.
Washington Post investigation that Anna refers to about how the US and Russia weakened a range of safeguards that had emerged from the U.N. effort to try to regulate the use of lethal autonomous weaponry.
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