The EU, Artificial Military Intelligence and Autonomous Lethal Weapons

Ar􀆟ficial intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionise global military affairs, just as the atomic bomb did in the mid-20th century. When a technological revolution upsets the international strategic balance, diplomacy generally tends to enter the equation. The issues surrounding military AI are therefore the subject of intense international debate. How is the European Union (EU) positioning itself in this context? What approach has it adopted to lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS) in particular? Formally, the EU has no competence in military AI. Yet, indirectly it has a number of tools that can influence this sector. Its new defence industrial policy is one of them.

However, the EU does not appear to have any intention of pursuing a restrictive policy in this area, at least for the moment. Its ambitions on the mater are limited to LAWS. And even then, thinking in this area is based on concepts that are so ambiguous that they should not have any substantial consequences in terms of development and industrial production…