South Korea summit to target 'blueprint' for using AI in the military

South Korea convened an international summit on Monday seeking to establish a blueprint for the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the military, though any agreement is not expected to have binding powers to enforce it. 

More than 90 countries including the United States and China have sent government representatives to the two-day summit in  Seoul, which is the second such gathering. 

At the first summit was held in Amsterdam last year, where the United States, China and other nations endorsed a modest "call to action" without legal commitment. 

"Recently, in the Russia-Ukraine war, an AI-applied Ukrainian drone functioned as David's slingshot," South Korean Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun said in an opening address.

He was referring to Ukraine's efforts for a technological edge against Russia by rolling out AI-enabled drones, hoping they will help overcome signal jamming as well as enable unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to work in larger groups. 

"As AI is applied to the military domain, the military's operational capabilities are dramatically improved. However it is like a double-edged sword, as it can cause damage from abuse," Kim said. 

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said discussions would cover areas such as a legal review to ensure compliance with international law and mechanisms to prevent autonomous weapons from making life-and-death decisions without appropriate human oversight. 

The Seoul summit hoped to agree to a blueprint for action, establishing a minimum level of guard-rails for AI in the military and suggesting principles on responsible use by reflecting principles laid out by NATO, by the US or a number of other countries, according to a senior South Korean official. 

It was unclear how many nations attending the summit would endorse the document on Tuesday, which is aiming to be a more detailed attempt to set boundaries on AI use in the military, but still likely lack legal commitments. 

The summit is not the only international set of discussions on AI use in the military. 

UN countries that belong to the 1983 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) are discussing potential restrictions on lethal autonomous weapons systems for compliance with international humanitarian law. 

The US government last year also launched a declaration on responsible use of AI in the military, which covers broader military application of AI, beyond weapons. As of August, 55 countries have endorsed the declaration.

The Seoul summit, co-hosted by the Netherlands, Singapore, Kenya and the United Kingdom, aims to ensure ongoing multi-stakeholder discussions in a field where technological developments are primarily driven by the private sector, but governments are the main decision makers.  

About 2,000 people globally have registered to take part in the summit, including representatives from international organisations, academia and the private sector, to attend discussions on topics such as civilian protection and AI use in the control of nuclear weapons.