Topic:
Country: Colombia
Delegate Name: Sam Zaruba
Disarmament and International Security Committee
Autonomous Weapons Systems
Republic of Colombia
Sam Zaruba
In 1997, chess master Garry Kasparov lost to “Deep Blue,” a robot engineered solely to dominate chess games. This defeat of Kasparov to Deep Blue signified a concerning shift from man to machine in society. With the onset of new technological advancements daily and robots becoming an increasingly important part of our reality, there is growing concern as to whether these advancements should be incorporated into the military. Although autonomous weapons are still in their development, many countries have made critical advancements in order to make these weapons deadly without human intervention. Despite the majority of countries’ agreement that autonomous weapons should never be without the control of a human, the exact details vary from country to country. In 2019, UN Secretary-General António Guterres spoke to the Committee of Conventional Weapons, stating that “autonomous machines with the power and discretion to select targets and take lives without human involvement are politically unacceptable, morally repugnant and should be prohibited by international law.”
Concerned for the welfare of humankind, Colombia deems autonomous weapons a critical issue, and urges countries to regulate the exponential advancements that are being made in autonomous weapon technology. Colombia has been an active member of the CCW’s meetings on killer robots for the past six years, and continues to condemn autonomous weapons. On September 21, 2020, at a CCW GGE meeting, Colombia stated that “regulation is essential to be able to move forward with peace of mind…. [Autonomous weapons systems] must have a legally binding framework before that type of weapon can be rolled out. . .” These weapons pose a threat to international security and the safety of Colombians, and Colombia maintains that they have the potential to become detrimental to the ethicacy of modern warfare. Also, in April of 2015 Colombia stated that weapons should be regulated “at the multilateral level in order to ensure the control by humans persists at all times, so that no machine makes life or death decisions.” Colombia also believes that regulations regarding autonomous weapons should be endorsed by other countries, as Colombia stands that these regulations are necessary in order to promote a safer world. The Republic of Colombia condemns autonomous weapons and other weapons that lack meaningful human control. With autonomous weapons not only posing a threat to the security of Colombia, but also of the world, Colombia believes that further action should be taken in order to prevent the dastardly effects of these types of weapons
Similar to numerous other countries, Colombia stands with the UN’s statement on autonomous weapons and believes that they pose a threat to the ethicacy of modern warfare. Colombia encourages other countries to enforce regulations on autonomous weapons, and will continue to denounce unethical advancements in artificial intelligence in the military. On top of this, Colombia also recommends that the international community increase their awareness of the real threat that autonomous weapons pose to the world.
