UN rights chief warns of civilian risks from drones and autonomous weapons

The UN’s human rights chief, Volker Türk, warned the General Assembly’s Third Committee on 14 October that drones and autonomous lethal weapons were creating “a new circle of hell for civilians around the world”, according to UN meeting coverage. He urged states to comply with international human rights law and establish a system to govern artificial intelligence. [1]

His remarks formed part of a wider warning about war and shrinking freedoms. Türk pointed to suffering in Ukraine and Sudan, the killing of Palestinian civilians and the inability of more than a million Rohingya refugees to return to Myanmar. He also warned of repression, surveillance and arbitrary detention. [1]

The meeting account does not identify which, if any, of the attacks discussed involved weapons selecting targets autonomously. Türk’s call for AI governance was a proposal for states to act, not an announcement of new rules. [1]

In its statement during the same dialogue, the EU called for AI to be developed and used safely, responsibly and with people at its centre. It asked how member states could support human rights-based AI governance. [2]