====== Artificial intelligence and autonomous weapons ======

//As of 1 October 2026.//

===== Overview =====
This subject area has two strands. The first concerns weapons: autonomous weapon systems, which once activated select and apply force to targets without further human intervention, are subject to existing international humanitarian law, including the review of new weapons under Art. 36 of Additional Protocol I. No treaty specifically regulates them. A Group of Governmental Experts under the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) has discussed them since 2017, and the UN General Assembly has adopted annual resolutions since 2023. The second strand concerns general AI regulation: the Council of Europe Framework Convention, the EU AI Act and the Global Digital Compact address risks to human rights, democratic processes and public debate. Military and national defence uses are largely excluded from these instruments, so the two strands run in separate forums.

===== Main points of debate =====
  * **Binding instrument.** A group of States, the UN Secretary-General and the ICRC support a legally binding instrument combining prohibitions and regulations; other States, including the United States and the Russian Federation, have opposed binding requirements or consider existing IHL sufficient.
  * **Forum.** Some States regard the consensus-based CCW as the only appropriate forum; others support discussions in the General Assembly.
  * **Human control.** Whether an instrument should require "meaningful human control" or another standard of human judgement, and how it would be defined, is disputed.
  * **Security exclusions.** The exclusion of defence and national security from civilian AI instruments is noted in debates on dual-use AI.

===== Entries =====
  * [[law:un:laws|UN and CCW processes on autonomous weapons]] – CCW Group and General Assembly.
  * [[gaps:laws_treaty|Gap: treaty on autonomous weapons systems]] – status of calls for a treaty.
  * [[law:ihl:ap1|Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions (1977)]] – weapons review (Art. 36).
  * [[law:coe:ai_convention|Council of Europe Framework Convention on AI (2024)]] – AI, human rights and democracy.
  * [[law:eu:ai_act|EU Artificial Intelligence Act (2024)]] – prohibited practices and deep fakes.
  * [[law:un:global_digital_compact|Global Digital Compact (2024)]] – Scientific Panel and Global Dialogue on AI.
  * [[gaps:nc3|Gap: protection of nuclear command, control and communications]] – human control over nuclear decisions.
  * [[law:un:military_ai|UN resolutions on AI in the military domain]] – General Assembly resolutions beyond autonomous weapons, including AI in nuclear command and control.
  * [[law:soft:reaim|REAIM documents on responsible AI in the military domain (2023–2026)]] – political declarations of the REAIM summits.
  * [[law:statements:magnifica_humanitas|Encyclical Magnifica humanitas (2026)]] – position of the Holy See on autonomous weapons and human control.

===== See also =====
  * [[topics:armed_conflict|Armed conflict – international humanitarian law]]
  * [[topics:un_processes|UN processes and institutions]]
  * [[topics:gaps|Regulatory gaps]]
  * [[:timeline|Timeline]] · [[:glossary|Glossary]]