The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have warned that the rapid development of the autonomous weapons is bringing the world closer to a point where machines could independently select and attack human targets.
Both organisations renewed calls for legally binding international rules governing the technology.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres and ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric issued the warning on Tuesday, August 25, saying the risks associated with autonomous weapons had intensified since they first appealed to governments three years ago to establish clear prohibitions and restrictions.
“We are now dangerously close to crossing a moral red line: the autonomous targeting of humans by machines,” they said in a joint statement.
Autonomous weapon systems are generally understood as weapons that, once activated, can select and engage targets without further human intervention.
The ICRC said such systems raise humanitarian and legal concerns because their use can reduce human control over decisions involving the application of lethal force.
The organisations are not calling for a blanket prohibition on every form of autonomous technology. Instead, they are urging states to negotiate a legally binding instrument containing specific prohibitions and restrictions on autonomous weapons.
The renewed appeal comes three years after Guterres and Spoljaric called on governments to conclude such an agreement by 2026.
The ICRC said the gap between technological development and international regulation has widened as advances in weapon technology have accelerated.
The issue has gained greater urgency as artificial intelligence and autonomous capabilities become increasingly integrated into military systems.
The ICRC said in a position paper published earlier this year that autonomous weapons can select and engage one or more targets without further human intervention once activated, creating particular challenges for compliance with international humanitarian law.
The organisations’ warning comes as governments continue negotiations in Geneva under the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), which has been the main international forum for discussions on lethal autonomous weapons systems.
