UN and ICRC call for urgent limits on autonomous weapons

The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have issued a joint call for immediate negotiations to establish legally binding international rules regarding autonomous weapons systems. UN Secretary-General António Guterres and ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric emphasized the need for prohibitions and restrictions on technologies capable of selecting and attacking targets without human intervention.

The proposed regulatory framework seeks to implement two primary prohibitions: the use of unpredictable systems and weapons specifically designed or used to target humans directly. Additionally, the organizations advocate for restrictions concerning the type of targets, geographic reach, duration, and scale of use. The goal is to ensure that life-or-death decisions are not delegated to machines, maintaining human judgment and responsibility in the use of force.

This appeal comes as military technology advances faster than regulatory mechanisms. While the call does not aim to ban all drones or military AI, it focuses on the “moral red line” where systems operate without human control. Discussions regarding these systems have been ongoing since 2013, but a binding treaty has yet to be finalized.