Pakistan has called for the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to be regulated by the United Nations charter, particularly its military use, warning that \u201cAI must not become a tool of coercion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As artificial intelligence advances without meaningful checks, Pakistan\u2019s call at the UN reflects wider concerns voiced by developing nations that powerful states will shape the rules to their advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier this year, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted<\/a> a resolution urging inclusive and equitable AI governance that bridges the digital divide, while countries in the Global South, from Indonesia<\/a> to Brazil<\/a>, have warned that unchecked deployment risks deepening inequalities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, while speaking at a high-level debate on AI under the agenda item \u2018Maintenance of international peace and security\u2019 during the sidelines of the 80th UNGA session in New York, highlighted AI\u2019s potential for misuse and called for the UN Charter and international law to \u201cfully govern the development and use of AI applications\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201dAI must not become a tool of coercion, or technological monopoly,\u201c the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP)<\/em> quoted him as saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The APP<\/em> reported that the meeting was chaired by South Korea\u2019s President Lee Jae Myung, as the country holds the 15-member Council\u2019s presidency for September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Warning against AI\u2019s military applications, the minister stressed that while AI may be the \u201cmost consequential, dual-use technology,\u201d it also has the potential to deepen \u201cinequalities, and destabilizing international order.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cApplications, without meaningful human control, should be prohibited,\u201d he added while addressing the 15-member council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Noting the perils of unregulated AI, Asif pointed out that, \u201cUnregulated and irresponsible use of AI enables disinformation campaigns, offensive cyber operations, and development of new types of armaments.\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe accelerating weaponisation of AI, through autonomous weapon systems, and AI-driven command and control systems, poses a grave danger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He urged the states to \u201ccommit to measures that prevent destabilising use, and pre-emptive incentives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Referring to the four-day military standoff<\/a> between India and Pakistan in May, Asif noted that during the conflict, \u201cautonomous munitions and high-speed dual-capable cruise missiles were used by one nuclear-armed state against another during a military exchange,\u201d cautioning that the instance demonstrates the \u201cdangers that AI can pose.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Warning against the changing future of warfare, he said, \u201cAI lowers the threshold for use of force, making wars more politically and operationally feasible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n AI \u201ccompresses decision-time, narrowing the window for diplomacy and de-escalation,\u201d the minister cautioned, adding that AI also \u201cblurs domain boundaries, merging cyber, kinetic, and informational effects in unpredictable ways.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He called for AI use to promote \u201cpeace and development\u201d rather than \u201cconflict and instability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLet us preserve the primacy of human judgment, in matters of war and peace, ensuring that, even in an age of intelligent machines, innovation is guided by principles of morality and humanity,\u201c Asif said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who opened the debate, while highlighting the many uses of AI along the lines of food insecurity, de-mining, and violence outbreaks, cautioned that, \u201cWithout guardrails, it can also be weaponised.\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n AI is \u201cno longer a distant horizon \u2014 it is here, transforming daily life, the information space and the global economy at breathtaking speed,\u201c he said; however, \u201cinnovation must serve humanity \u2014 not undermine it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recalling the establishment of the UN\u2019s Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and a Global Dialogue on AI Governance, Guterres remarked, \u201chumanity\u2019s fate cannot be left to an algorithm\u201d as \u201chumans must always retain authority over life-and-death decisions\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On that note, he called on the council and the member states to \u201censure that human control and judgment are preserved in every use of force,\u201d APP<\/em> quoted him as saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gueterres further called for \u201ca ban on lethal autonomous weapons systems operating without human control, with a legally binding instrument by 2026,\u201d APP<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSimilarly, any decision in nuclear weapon use must rest with humans \u2014 not machines\u201d, APP<\/em> quoted the UN Secretary General as saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFrom nuclear arms control to aviation safety, the international community has risen to the challenge of technologies that could destabilise our societies \u2014by agreeing to rules, building institutions, and insisting on human dignity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe window is closing to shape AI \u2014 for peace, for justice, for humanity. We must act without delay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Addressing the council, Yejin Choi, a senior fellow at Stanford University\u2019s Institute for Human-Centred Artificial Intelligence, pointed out that the \u201ccurrent progress in AI is too concentrated among a handful of companies and countries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen only a few have the resources to build and benefit from AI, we leave the rest of the world waiting at the door,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLet us expand what intelligence can be \u2014 and let everyone everywhere have a role in building it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMs Choi urged governments and international institutions to invest in alternative approaches beyond scaling ever-larger models, arguing that smaller, more adaptive systems could lower barriers to entry,\u201d APP<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe also pressed for stronger representation of linguistic and cultural diversity, noting that today\u2019s leading AI models underperform for many non-English languages and reflect narrow cultural assumptions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n