UN Secretary-General Calls for Ban on 'Killer Robots,' Citing Ethical Unacceptability

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has emphasized the need for regulations on lethal autonomous weapons, labeling them as "killer robots."

According to foreign media reports, including The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Secretary-General Guterres delivered a speech at an event on artificial intelligence (AI) governance in Geneva, Switzerland, on July 6 (local time), urging for the establishment of regulations and describing lethal autonomous weapons as "morally repugnant."

He stressed that lethal autonomous weapons must be banned under international law, stating, "It is ethically unacceptable for machines to select and attack targets and take lives without human control or judgment."

He added, "We should not wait for atrocities to happen," and noted, "Some decisions must always be made by humans, and among them, there is nothing more important than the decision to take another person's life."

The WSJ pointed out that Guterres' remarks have brought the controversy over AI safety, which was at the heart of the conflict between the U.S. Department of Defense and Anthropic earlier this year, back to the surface.

The conflict between the U.S. Department of Defense and Anthropic emerged after it was reported that the U.S. military used Anthropic's Claude during an operation to arrest former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro earlier this year.

Anthropic expressed its position that its AI models should not be used for large-scale surveillance or autonomous lethal weapons, but the Department of Defense countered that they should be available for all lawful activities.

According to the WSJ, as AI systems and chips designed for civilian use are increasingly deployed on the battlefield and in military command, debates are constantly arising over when the military should use AI and when humans must intervene.

Proponents of AI weapon use and defense industry officials argue that autonomous weapons remain under human control and that AI will enable humans to carry out complex operations more quickly and accurately.

On the other hand, there are counterarguments that it is dangerous for humans to hand over control to machines in urgent situations because AI can also make mistakes.

Some also argue that AI systems could escape human control and attack humans, and that equipping AI with weapons only accelerates such risks.

The WSJ reported that the debate over how to regulate AI systems remains intense, and that the U.S. government is preparing procedures to verify the safety of AI models before their release.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.