The rapid advances in the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly becoming relevant for our foreign and security policy, too. This is already the case for issues around cybersecurity and the regulation of autonomous weapons systems, which we are engaging with in depth. On the other hand, the scientific and political debate on the risks and opportunities created by AI in the field of arms control policy and weapons of mass destruction is still in its early stages.

And yet the possible repercussions are serious. For example, AI applications can dangerously lower the technological threshold for developing biological or chemical agents of warfare, especially in combination with other new technologies such as synthetic biology. The possible use of AI in nuclear weapons’ command and control systems might have serious repercussions for strategic stability or nuclear escalation.

Continuation of the conference series Capturing Technology. Rethinking Arms Control.

The third conference in the series Capturing Technology. Rethinking Arms Control. is taking place under the title Artificial Intelligence and Weapons of Mass Destruction. It is bringing together 190 international experts from academia, think tanks, industry and diplomacy to discuss the repercussions of AI in the field of weapons of mass destruction, and possible paths of action for our arms control policy.

The opening speech is being held by the Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Fernando Arias Gonzalez, and the Federal Government Commissioner for Disarmament and Arms Control at the Federal Foreign Office, Günter Sautter.

More information can be found on the conference website.