The UB, in the United Nations expert meeting on new systems of autonomous weapons
The UB is one of the academic institutions to have participated in April in the UN Group of Governmental Expert Meeting on emerging technologies regarding autonomous weapon systems. The aim of the meeting was to debate on the impact and challenges of the uses of artificial intelligence and robotics in the design of weapon, control and defense systems, within the framework of the human rightsʼ international legal and humanitarian aspects.
The UB is one of the academic institutions to have participated in April in the UN Group of Governmental Expert Meeting on emerging technologies regarding autonomous weapon systems. The aim of the meeting was to debate on the impact and challenges of the uses of artificial intelligence and robotics in the design of weapon, control and defense systems, within the framework of the human rightsʼ international legal and humanitarian aspects.
“Progressively, the autonomous weapon systems and military robots in general are getting more and more into the science fiction world in the works by designers and engineers, willing to be created and then used in battle fields, urban enclaves and high security places”. This was stated in an article by the UB representative in the UN meeting, the researcher Milton J. Meza-Rivas, after the first meeting, held last November.
Milton J. Meza-Rivas took part in the meeting for the project titled “Autonomous weapon systems: challenges in adapting an international regulation on the uses, operational control and availability of private firms”, which has a funding from the International Catalan Institute for Peace and is led by Dr. Jordi Bonet Pérez, professor of International Public Law and International Relations at the UB. One of the upcoming activities of this project will be an international workshop, to be held on Monday June 18 at the Faculty of Law of the UB, which will touch on legal and ethical aspects of the regulation of autonomous weapon systems within the context of a global society.
“A great part of the government has to understand that all these technologies have to be fully covered in a holistic manner, with experts from different knowledge areas and within a framework of high quality dialogue”, continues Milton J. Meza-Rivas. He also highlights how states approved -during the first session- the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons as a proper forum to discuss on autonomous weapon systems and that the international humanitarian law is applicable to all weapon systems, regardless of their type. The group “will continue holding work sessions without it being any obstacle for the progress of civil research and the development of intelligent autonomous systems, although it will keep its constructive and prospective ideas on these technologies, especially when their functions are potentially applicable to control and security areas, as well as military and police areas”.