The New Dark Age

The 79th UN General Assembly is underway, and it’s time for states to take take action to #StopKillerRobots! An updated resolution on autonomous weapons will be tabled and voted on at the First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, which starts on Monday 7, October.

This year we’re asking our supporters to remind their governments that they are #MoreThanData – specifically the sensor data autonomous weapons use to target and attack – and that’s why states need to #VoteAgainstTheMachine and stop machines from making life or death decisions.

🇺🇳 This year at UNGA…

We’re focusing on the digital dehumanisation aspect of autonomous weapons. We’re making noise around the world – from Tokyo to Oslo to Buenos Aires –  to show states that it’s time for regulation to catch up to the pace of technological innovation. Campaigners around the world are taking to the streets to highlight the humanitarian, ethical and legal concerns that autonomous weapons raise. Here are some photos from campaigner actions that have taken place thus far:

This year, you can wear your support too, by purchasing one of our limited edition Vote Against The Machine t-shirts!

📰 The latest on killer robots

A lot has happened since our September newsletter. Here’s the key updates on killer robots.

• Parliamentary work: Campaigners have been working hard to lobby parliamentarians around the world to sign our Parliamentary Pledge and show leadership in rejecting the automation of killing. In the last few weeks we’ve seen a number of parliamentarians show their support for new international law to stop killer robots. Here are some of them:

• 🔮Pact for the Future: On 22 September 2024, the ‘Pact for the Future‘ was adopted by world leaders at the Summit of the Future at the  UN Headquarters in New York. The Pact aims to provide an ambitious, action-oriented vision for a more peaceful world, and is the result of months of negotiations between states. The Pact called for states to “advance with urgency discussions” on autonomous weapons – a demonstration that killer robots are considered a global challenge for humanity and addressing the risks they raise is a priority for the international community. At this year’s UNGA states have the opportunity to expand discussions and move toward the new international law we urgently need.

• 📌 REAIM Summit: The Second REAIM (Responsible AI in the Military Domain) Summit took place in Seoul, South Korea from 9-10 September. Since the inaugural Summit in the Hague last year, there have been numerous reported uses of military AI tools beyond autonomous weapons systems (e.g. Lavender decision support system used by Israel in Gaza) that have raised questions about whether the current direction of reported practice is acceptable, and what the criteria for ‘responsible’ use of AI in the military domain really is. Ultimately, the Summit fell woefully short of calling for the negotiation of new international law to prohibit and restrict autonomous weapons systems.
• 🌐 Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly: The 149th Inter-Parliamentary Union assembly will take place from 13-17 October in Geneva, Switzerland. We will be speaking on a panel about humanitarian disarmament where we will underline the vast concerns that autonomous weapons raise and the steps parliamentarians around the world can take to stop killer robots.

🏆 We won an award – Golden Dove for Peace!

We are honoured to receive this year’s Golden Dove for Peace Award which is awarded by Archivio Disarmo to an international figure or organisation  who has made a significant contribution to the cause of peace. Previous awardees  have included Nelson Mandela, Amnesty International, UNESCO and Greenpeace.In accepting this year’s Golden Doves for Peace Award, we hope that the highlighting of our work on autonomous weapons further signals the importance of the need to act now to build peace and safeguard humanity for current and future generations.

🎨 Future 2045: Youth Art Contest

On International Day of Peace on 21 September, we launched Future 2045 – our youth art contest! We’re asking young people to use their creativity – through whatever artistic medium they choose – to imagine a future world where killer robots have been banned – or where they haven’t.

The contest is open to young people worldwide to share their vision for a peaceful future and raise awareness of autonomous weapons. The contest closes on 30 October at the end of UN Disarmament Week.