As of September 2025, there are no international legally binding regulations specific to the development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in the military domain. The project ‘AutoPractices’, hosted by the Centre for War Studies at the University of Southern Denmark in collaboration with SIPRI, aims to initiate and accompany a process of social innovation to govern AI technologies in military systems from the bottom up. It will do so by co-creating a set of best practices in the form of a practical toolkit to sustain and strengthen the exercise of human agency when developing and using military systems integrating AI and autonomous technologies. The operational toolkit will be co-created together with stakeholders from different professional backgrounds and geographies.
During the first phase, the project published its first output: a map of practices identified by stakeholders as contributing to strengthening the exercise of human agency in the use of military systems integrating AI technologies. The map of practices is meant as a transitional step towards the final operational toolkit.
Dr Alexander Blanchard, Senior Researcher in the SIPRI Governance of AI Programme, contributed significantly to the project.
Introduction to AutoPractices
Data collection
Overview of stakeholders
Terminology
Methodology
Map of practices
Conclusion and overview