Fact Sheet: The Political Declaration on Responsible Military Use of Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy
AI will transform militaries—from managing logistics to how they train and operate. Responsible militaries will apply AI in ways that lower risk and bolster stability; higher-quality information will be provided to decision-makers faster so they can make better decisions, which could help avoid unintended escalation.
Harnessing AI should be done with a careful, principled approach to avoid unpredictable and negative consequences. States must also develop AI consistent with their existing international legal obligations, including International Humanitarian Law.
The Political Declaration seeks to build international support for responsible norms in the military use of AI and autonomy. It consists of non-legally binding guidelines that describe best practices for responsible military use of AI and aims to promote responsible behavior and demonstrate collective leadership.
The goals of the Political Declaration include:
- States commit to strong and transparent norms that apply across military domains, regardless of a system’s functionality or scope of potential effects.
- States commit to pursue continued discussions on how military AI capabilities are developed, deployed, and used in a responsible manner, and to continue to engage the rest of the international community to promote these measures.
- The Political Declaration preserves the right to self-defense and states’ ability to responsibly develop and use AI in the military domain.
The Political Declaration is the beginning of a process, and we encourage all states to endorse.