NATO tees up negotiations on artificial intelligence in weapons

NATO officials are kicking around a new set of questions for member states on artificial intelligence in defense applications, as the alliance seeks common ground ahead of a strategy document planned for this summer. The move comes amid a grand effort to sharpen NATO's edge in what officials call emerging and disruptive technologies, or EDT. Autonomous and artificial intelligence-enabled weaponry is a key element in that push, aimed at ensuring tech leadership on a global scale. Exactly where the alliance falls on the spectrum between permitting AI-powered defense technology in some applications and disavowing it in others is expected to be a hotly debated topic in the run-up to the June 14 NATO summit. "We have agreed that we need principles of responsible use, but we're also in the process of delineating specific technologies," David van Weel, the alliance's assistant secretary-general for emerging security challenges, said at a web event earlier this month organized by the Estonian Defence Ministry.