Foreign Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud has called upon the international community to get away with any new weapons let alone autonomous weapons for the sake of humanity. He underscored the importance of benevolent application of AI in agriculture, medical science, space exploration, climate change, job creation, etc. for the benefit of mankind, and not in weapon systems to wipe out humanity.
He posed a question what would happen to international peace and security, if the non-state actors and terrorist organisations get the access to AI-driven autonomous weapon systems.
Foreign Minister Mahmud highlighted the importance of preserving human control over the use of force. He underscored that machines with the power and discretion to take human lives must be prohibited by legally binding international laws both for AI and autonomous weapons.
He suggested setting global norms to effectively regulate the autonomous weapons systems. Highlighting the precarious situation in Gaza, he also cautioned the international community against opening a new front of conflicts and tensions.
Dr. Hasan Mahmud participated in a high-level panel discussion on the challenges of regulating the autonomous weapon systems where the Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, Costa Rican Foreign Minister Arnoldo André Tinoco, Norwegian State Secretary Eivind Vad Petersson and the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross Mirjana Spoljaric Egger also joined as co-panelists.
Dr. Mahmud is attending the international conference on ‘Humanity at the Crossroads: Autonomous Weapons Systems and the Challenge of Regulation’ in Vienna. Organized by the Ministry of European and International Affairs of Austria, the conference is being participated by more than 800 delegates from over 120 states, UN bodies, rights groups and INGOs.