Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the United Nations on Wednesday that the Ukraine War — and all current wars must end — before artificial intelligence is deployed to the battlefield to make life-and-death decisions.
Speaking before the UN General Assembly in New York, Zelensky warned that the time would soon come when AI dictates how wars are conducted as smarter and smarter weapons are made at a quickening pace.
“We need to slow it down before we reach the next stage, because as early as next year, there is already a real possibility that AI, not only people, will begin to decide what happens on the battlefield, and we need peace before we reach that point,” he said.
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“If you listen to some of the biggest believers in the development of AI, they say today AI still remains mostly digital, but one day AI will move from the digital world to shaping atoms.
“And when that happens, we had better be at peace,” he added.
Fears of AI being deployed on the battlefield were sparked last month after a Russian drone guided by AI killed three Ukrainians, including a 19-year-old university student.
The Ukraine war has highlighted the speed at which new technology can be developed and deployed in war, with drones becoming the standout method to conduct warfare.
