News briefing 6-10 May 2024

Autonomy in weapons systems, and AI in security and defence

• France: Interdiction des robots tueurs: la France ne peut plus se cacher/Ban on killer robots: France cannot hide: In an op-ed in the French newspaper Libération, French MP Aurélien Santoul says that as France is ‘rightly proud of its status as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, it must take responsibility for it and lead the way in supporting the opening of negotiations for a treaty. In a context of destruction of international law, fighting against the nightmare of “killer robots” could well be the first decisive step towards the reconstruction of a less chaotic global system.’ (written in French)

• Israel/Gaza:When AI Decides Who Lives and Dies: Simon Frankel Pratt writing for Foreign Policy reports on ‘algorithmic targeting’  by the Israeli military. Pratt says ‘The new system automatically sifts through huge amounts of raw data to identify probable targets and hand their names to human analysts to do with what they will—and in most cases, it seems, those human analysts recommend an airstrike.’
• US: Pentagon outlines systems, funding for first batch of Replicator: Defense News reports on further information regarding the replicator program by Pentagon. As per the report, the first major purchase since the program’s launch would include ‘AeroVironment’s Switchblade-600 loitering munition, a batch of uncrewed surface vehicles and another unspecified set of counter-drone systems.’ 

Facial recognition, biometric identification, surveillance

• US: Senators Seek to Curb Facial Recognition at Airports, Citing Privacy Concerns: This week, the New York Times reports on privacy concerns that have been covered in past news briefings. This article makes reference to a recurring matter of facial recognition in some parts of the US where ‘Senators Jeff Merkley, Democrat of Oregon, and John Kennedy, Republican of Louisiana, are proposing to block the expansion of the technology until 2027.’
• International: Microsoft doesn’t want cops using Azure AI for facial recognition: The Register reports that Microsoft has made a decision through revision to its Azure OpenAI service code of conduct to prohibit ‘any real-time facial recognition’ including law enforcement agencies. 
• US: US Airports Are Rapidly Adopting TSA’s New Facial Recognition Technology But Some Lawmakers Have Concerns: A number of Senators are determined to’ limit passenger facial recognition use due to privacy concerns’ and are calling for more oversight on the matter. ’This comes at a time where the TSA has declared that it has plans ‘to expand facial recognition tech to 430 airports.’
• US/Mexico: Surveillance Technology at the U.S.-Mexico Border: An EFF Zine: This document by Electronic Frontier Foundation elaborates on the increasing surveillance across the US- Mexico border by border security agencies. This includes a number of autonomous and biometric identification systems, which raise concerns about privacy. These technologies track people’s locations using data from personal electronics and license plates.
• International: Global: A Web of Surveillance – Unraveling a Murky Network of Spyware Exports to Indonesia: Amnesty reports on ‘an expansive range of highly invasive spyware and surveillance products that are being imported and deployed in Indonesia.’ Highlighting the severe human rights implications this may have, Amnesty has called for a ‘permanent global ban of highly invasive spyware.’ 

Other items of interest

Reminder: Online event 14 May: International Committee of the Red Cross event on artificial intelligence in military decision-making: legal and humanitarian implications: the ICRC will launch two reports on the use of AI in military decision-making, featuring a range of speakers. Registration is free. Register here.