NEW YORK / RankWire.AI / – The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research is unveiling a new platform dedicated to artificial intelligence and its implications for international peace and security on Thursday. This initiative, led by the institute’s Centre of Excellence on AI, Peace and Security, extends to the military sphere as well. UNIDIR characterizes it as the first and only multi-stakeholder forum of this kind within the UN framework to date, with the launch scheduled for October 22.
UNIDIR Director Robin Geiss announced the new forum during a briefing at UN Headquarters in New York on Tuesday, emphasizing its purpose to gather diverse actors from all relevant sectors and regions. The consultation process will include defence technology firms, software developers, subcontractors, and investors, working together with governments, civil society, academia, and independent specialists. As the UN’s autonomous research entity on disarmament based in Geneva, Geiss highlighted the need to combine efforts and face the challenges of military AI head-on.
According to Geiss, the forum will explore three key themes. The first involves establishing a responsible industry framework, with practical, voluntary guidelines for companies during the design and development of military AI systems. The second focuses on creating an AI security lexicon to define fundamental concepts such as autonomy, safety, and security—terms currently used inconsistently across stakeholders, causing confusion that hampers trust and collaboration.
Focus on misuse and rapid warfare escalation
The third area concentrates on the threat posed by non-State armed groups misusing AI, which can facilitate operational planning, execution, and logistics support. Geiss noted that some armed groups are already leveraging AI in this manner, and he warned that the increasing ease of use for AI tools enables these actors to carry out more advanced military operations. The recently established Centre of Excellence, opened this summer, is the first permanent UN platform dedicated to addressing these issues.
He cautioned that the influence of human judgment in warfare is diminishing rapidly, with AI already widely employed in intelligence analysis, target identification, and drone operations. AI is also used to coordinate cyber-attacks, and Geiss pointed out that the margin for human oversight is narrowing, including in the nuclear arena. This shift accelerates battlefield operations, reducing the time between detection and attack significantly.
Complexity of regulation amid geopolitical tensions
Geiss highlighted that many military AI systems operate opaquely, increasing the risk of errors, misjudgments, and unintended escalation. He described geopolitical rivalry and ongoing tensions as major hurdles to effective regulation of these technologies. Nonetheless, concern over AI’s military applications is shared across various political spectrums, including among major powers. He referenced a September U.S. proposal for an AI notification mechanism with China, designed to alert both countries about AI-related incidents.
The Centre of Excellence has garnered funding from all five principal nuclear states: the United States, Russia, China, Britain, and France, Geiss indicated. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has repeatedly called on nations not to cross moral red lines with autonomous weapons targeting people, advocating for a legally binding treaty on lethal autonomous weapon systems. Geiss mentioned that these appeals are increasingly echoed throughout the international community.