Daily Times

Pakistan has urged the international community, especially the developed nations, to harness new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) for the betterment of society.

“Without regulation, these new technologies could become more lethal than any weapon witnessed before,” Pakistani representative Senator Mohsin Aziz told the Annual Parliamentary Hearing, a joint initiative between the President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

UNGA President Dennis Francis and IPU President Tulia Ackson were hosting some 300 participants, including parliamentarians, Speakers of Parliament, advisers, and experts from more than 70 countries, at the UN Headquarters in New York, USA.

Organizers said the theme of this joint IPU-UN hearing will align with the IPU’s primary focus in 2024 on peace and international security, which is also one of the priorities of the current presidency of the UN General Assembly.

In his remarks, Senator Aziz stressed the need for a legal framework, particularly in the debate surrounding Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS), and emphasized the necessity of treaties and conventions to address the potential threats posed by these technologies. Laws are autonomous weapons, also known as “killer robots,” that would be able to select and engage targets without meaningful human control.

Senator Aziz also emphasized the need for awareness of the weaponization of information, communications, and technologies (ICTs) and cyberspace to ensure peace, security, and stability, advocating the careful application of international law, including humanitarian law, to prevent cyberspace from becoming a domain of conflict.

He called upon governments to ensure regulatory processes for new technologies that were adaptable to rapid advancements and collaborate internationally to develop harmonized regulatory standards.