On 3 March, SIPRI and the Department of National Defence of Canada (DND) held a side event at the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons Group of Governmental Experts on lethal autonomous weapon systems (CCW GGE on LAWS) in Geneva, to present findings and recommendations from SIPRI’s new report titled ‘Responsible Procurement of Military Artificial Intelligence’.
Deliberations within the CCW GGE on LAWS have centred on the conditions under which autonomous weapons, including AI-enabled systems, can be developed and used consistently with international humanitarian law and other relevant normative frameworks. Procurement represents a consequential phase at which these conditions are put into practice. Against this background, the event brought together diplomats, civil society and experts to explore how procurement processes can serve as a lever for implementing states’ high-level policy commitments and legal obligations related to responsible military artificial intelligence (AI).
Report authors Netta Goussac and Dr Vincent Boulanin presented the report alongside Major Paul Owens (DND), who shared Canada’s approach to responsible AI in the military context. The authors outlined why and how states are adapting their procurement processes to accelerate military AI adoption (including of AI-enabled autonomous weapons). They also highlighted that states’ efforts to adapt procurement processes provide an opportunity to operationalize obligations and commitments around responsible military AI, but only if deliberately structured to do so.
The discussion examined the need for guidance on how to translate high-level principles and rules into concrete procurement practices, and underscored the interest in opportunities for including procurement in international policy discussions on the governance of military AI. SIPRI’s research was welcomed as a timely contribution to ongoing multilateral discussions and national policymaking on the development and use of military AI.