ASTANA — Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry underscored the ethical and legal dangers posed by AI-driven weapons, as Director of International Security Department Arsen Omarov called for a preemptive global ban on fully autonomous systems and stronger international regulation.
Photo credit: gov.kz
Omarov participated in the Regional Roundtable on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS), held by the International Committee of the Red Cross on Nov. 25.
Diplomats, military experts, and academic representatives discussed the humanitarian, legal, and ethical challenges associated with the use of artificial intelligence in the military domain. During the discussion, it was noted that autonomous weapons systems capable of independently selecting and engaging targets without human intervention raise serious concerns regarding accountability, transparency, and compliance with international humanitarian law, reported the ministry’s press service.
Omarov highlighted the country’s initiatives to accelerate the AI development and introduced in detail the state’s stand on the regulation of LAWS. He emphasized that Astana advocates for maintaining a reasonable balance between military necessity and ethical standards when implementing AI in modern weapons development. It was noted that Kazakhstan supports the development of Protocol VI to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons as a legally binding instrument for regulating LAWS.
Andrea Bacher, ambassador of Austria to Kazakhstan (Austria initiated the adoption of two UN General Assembly resolutions on LAWS), and representatives of the foreign policy and defense ministries of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan contributed to the event.
