SEOUL, Sept 9 (Askume) – (This story from Sept 8 has been modified in paragraph 3 to show that the first summit is being held in The Hague, not Amsterdam)
South Korea held an international summit on Monday to develop a blueprint for the responsible use of artificial intelligence in the military, but a binding agreement to implement the blueprint is not expected.
More than 90 countries, including the United States and China, sent government representatives to the second such two-day summit in Seoul.
The first summit was held last year in The Hague , where the United States, China and other countries participatedA modest “call to action” was signed but no legal commitment was made.
“Recently, in the war between Russia and Ukraine, Ukrainian drones operated with artificial intelligence served as David’s slingshot,” South Korean Defense Minister Kim Young-hyun said in his inaugural speech.
He was referring to Ukraine’s efforts to gain a technological advantage against Russia, including drones with artificial intelligence , which he hoped would help overcome signal jamming, and drones that would enable larger-scale operations.
“When artificial intelligence is applied to the military field, the military’s combat capabilities will be greatly improved. However, it is like a double-edged sword and its misuse can cause harm,” Jin said.
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yol said discussions would cover areas such as legal review to ensure compliance with international law and mechanisms to prevent autonomous weapons from making life-or-death decisions without proper human oversight.
Senior South Korean officials said the Seoul summit aims to develop a blueprint for operations, establish minimum safety levels for artificial intelligence in the military and establish principles for responsible use that mirror those set by NATO, the United States or other countries.
It was unclear how many countries attending Tuesday’s summit would support the document, which seeks to limit the use of artificial intelligence in the military in more detail but still lacks legal commitments.
The summit is not the only international meeting discussing the use of artificial intelligence in the military sector.
UN countries that are parties to the 1983 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) are discussing possible restrictions on lethal autonomous weapon systems to comply with international humanitarian law.
The US government also issued a declaration on the responsible use of artificial intelligence in the military last year, which includes broader military uses of artificial intelligence beyond weapons. As of August, 55 countries had endorsed the declaration.
The Seoul Summit, co-hosted by the Netherlands, Singapore, Kenya and the UK, aims to ensure that multi-stakeholder discussions continue in a region where technology development is largely driven by the private sector, but where governments remain the main decision-makers.
Nearly 2,000 people from around the world have signed up for the summit, including representatives from international organisations, academia and the private sector, who will take part in discussions on artificial intelligence in areas such as civil security and nuclear arms control.
