Events

2023 Innovations Dialogue: The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Future Battlefields

2023 Innovations Dialogue: The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Future Battlefields

The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) welcomes you to the 2023 Innovations Dialogue: The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Future Battlefields (ID23).

Militaries around the world are looking at Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a promising technology to unlock the next generation of military capabilities. A lot has been theorised on the possible implications of the adoption of AI in the military domain, but to fully understand the extent to which AI will impact warfare, more context-specific discussions bridging the gap between theory and practice are urgently needed.

Building on the 2022 Innovations Dialogue, the 2023 edition of the Innovations Dialogue will provide a platform for military, technical, legal, and ethical experts to explore the impact of AI, including but not limited to autonomous weapons, across traditional domains of warfare, namely land, naval, and air warfare as well as on new domains such as cyber, space, and cognitive. In addition and in response to the emerging call for governance and regulation in the field of AI, the Innovations Dialogue will also provide an opportunity to discuss the purpose and structure of future multilateral discussions on this complex topic.

WHEN & WHERE

27 June 2023, 09:00-17:45 (CEST). Please consult this website to find your local time.

Hybrid format: in-person (Geneva) and online.

PARTICIPANTS 

UNIDIR encourages the participation of representatives and experts working on or interested in issues pertaining to advancement of digital technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, and their implications for international peace and security.

RSVP

Please register here. You are kindly requested to specify if you will be attending in person or connecting remotely. As places are limited, we kindly invite you register as soon as possible if you plan to attend in-person. The link to access the broadcast of ID23 will be provided by email to registered participants one day prior to the event.

For any questions, please contact UNIDIR Security and Technology Programme (sectec-unidir@un.org).

AGENDA

PART I: Setting the Scene

9:00-9:15: Opening Remarks

• Dr Robin Geiss, Director, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research

9:15-9:45: Keynote Speech

PART II: Understanding AI across Traditional Domains of Warfare

Through a series of multi-stakeholder expert panels featuring military, technical and legal experts, this part will discuss the potential impact of AI on land, naval and air warfare including the development of autonomous weapons, the use of AI in decision-making processes and planning, and the legal and ethical considerations surrounding these developments in each specific environment.

09:45-11:00: Panel I – AI and Land Warfare

11:00-11:20: Coffee Break

11:20-12:35: Panel II – AI and Naval Warfare

12:35-13:30: Lunch Break

13:30-14:40 : Panel III – AI and Air warfare

14:40-15:00: Coffee Break

PART III: Exploring the Future

A panel of experts will discuss the role and potential impact of AI on emerging warfighting domains such as cyber, space and cognitive domains. The panel will explore the opportunities and challenges associated with AI in these domains.

15:00-16:10: Panel IV – AI and New Domains

16:10-16:30: Coffee Break

16:30-17:30: Panel V – A Regular Institutional Dialogue for AI in the Military Domain?

With AI becoming increasingly embedded in the different military capabilities, including but not limited to weapon systems, is it important and necessary to establish a mechanism for regular institutional dialogue among states on this topic? If yes, what form should this dialogue have and what purposes? If not, why not and what other options are available?

17:30-17:45: Concluding Remarks and Conference Closing

• Dr Robin Geiss, Director, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research