Artificial Intelligence and Robotization

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the international law governing applications of artificial intelligence and robotics which affect global security, highlighting challenges arising from technological developments and how international regulators are responding to them. Much of the international law literature thus far has focused on the implications of increasingly autonomous weapons systems. Our contribution instead seeks to cover a broader range of global security risks resulting from large-scale diffuse or concentrated, gradual or sudden, direct or indirect, intentional or unintentional, AI or robotics-caused harm. Applications of these technologies permeate almost every domain of human activity and thus unsurprisingly have an equally wide range of risk profiles, from a discriminatory algorithmic decision causing financial distress to an AI-sparked nuclear war collapsing global civilization. Hence, it is only natural that much of the international regulatory activity takes place in domain-specific fora. Many of these fora coordinate with each other, both within and beyond the UN system, spreading insights and best practices on how to deal with common concerns such as cybersecurity, monitoring, and reliability, so as to prevent accidents and misuse.

Keywords: international law, artificial intelligence, robotics, global security

JEL Classification: K33