By VOON MIAW PING
SEOUL, Sept 16 (Bernama) -- International collaboration among states and key defence players is crucial as the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in the military domain rapidly expands.
Industry experts participating in the 2nd REAIM (Responsible AI in the Military Domain) Summit, co-hosted by South Korea in the capital here, recently, concurred on the critical need to establish effective regulations and oversight mechanisms to govern the use of AI and prevent its misuse in defence and warfare.
Paul Scharre, Executive Vice President and Director of Studies at Centre for a New American Security (CNAS), a Washington-based non-profit think tank focused on security and defence, said laws of war must be applied to AI and its application in the sector.
He noted that currently there are no specific rules about how AI is used in the military.
“I think we need countries to come together, to come up with some rules for global governance for AI (use in military) right now, to decide what those rules should be. What kinds of uses of AI in the military are acceptable, and what are not,” he told Bernama on the sidelines of the summit.
He acknowledged that the task may not be easy, but emphasised that it is achievable, noting that history has shown how nations have successfully come together to establish rules in warfare.
“They're not always successful, but there are successful examples in efforts to ban the use of landmines, cluster munitions, lighting lasers and nuclear weapons.
“So, we do know that it's possible for nations to cooperate about how they use AI technology in warfare,” Scharre added.
Director of the Centre for Future Studies, University of Dubai, Dr Saeed Aldhaheri said while global collaboration is essential to manage the risk related with AI, having a governance structure for AI in the defence domain is also important.
This is to ensure that the technological advancements are harnessed for the greater good, in term of promoting ethical and responsible deployment and development of AI for global peace efforts, rather than for exacerbating conflicts.
“With the ongoing arms race in AI rapidly reshaping the defence domain, we need to identify effective areas where AI can be used to strengthen global peace and stability.
“I think this will require global collaboration between nations and putting good governance structure to make sure that it is used positively,” he told Bernama.
This year’s summit focused on building a global consensus on the ethical management of AI technologies in the military domain.
One of its main goals was to explore ways to harness AI’s potential benefits while effectively mitigating the risks it could create.
Launched in 2023 by South Korea and the Netherlands in The Hague, the REAIM Summit, the first of its kind, has emerged as a crucial international multi-stakeholder platform to discuss issues which arise from military use of AI such as technologies and innovation, ethical challenges and opportunities.
The second REAIM summit was co-hosted by South Korea, the Netherlands, Singapore, Kenya and the United Kingdom.
As a digital powerhouse with a robust defence industry, the summit has further boosted South Korea’s standing as a key global player in leading high-level discussions on AI in the defence domain.
Themed “Responsible AI for Safer Tomorrow” the high-profile summit was opened by South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and attended by over 2,000 participants from 90 countries, including from Malaysia.
-- BERNAMA
