News Briefing 8-12 April 2024

Autonomy in weapons systems, and AI in security and defence

• Japan/Canada: Rheinmetall to supply Japan with its first fleet of autonomous vehicles: The Rheinmetall Mission Master SP will be delivered to Japan soon. The Mission Master has the capabilities to ‘autonomously carry out missions such as forward and last mile resupply missions, silent watch operations, and carriages of light payloads, including section sensors and weapon systems.’
• US: America’s Next Soldiers Will Be Machines: The US Army is heading towards placing robots in the ‘front line’. Jack Detsch, reporting for Foreign Policy, says ‘it won’t be long before the United States is deploying ground robots into battle in human-machine teams.’ However, the piece also notes that ‘the robots of the future may need two sets of rules: one for peacetime, and another for war’, and highlights that ‘the U.N. General Assembly’s First Committee approved a draft resolution on autonomous weapons in November, declaring that a human should always be in the loop.’
• Israel/Gaza: UN Chief ‘troubled’ by reports Israel used AI to find targets: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said that he is ‘deeply troubled’ by reports around Israel’s use of artificial intelligence for military purposes, stating that ‘No part of life-and-death decisions which impact entire families should be delegated to the cold calculation of algorithms’, and that ‘AI should be used as a force for good to benefit the world, not to contribute to waging war on an industrial level, blurring accountability.’
• US: New US DoD autonomous weapons officer has collateral damage expertise: This week, Dr Radha Plumb was sworn into office as the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer at the U.S. Department of Defense. This position is said to be a key driver in the ‘implementation of US policies for autonomous weapon systems and autonomous systems in the kill chain’.
• International: War by algorithm raises new moral dangers: This piece in Financial Times discusses the moral questions surrounding the use of algorithms for warfare. In the background of the recent reports on use of AI systems in the Israel gaza conflict, the piece outlines different positions on the prohibition of autonomous weapon systems, while stressing that ‘humanity must lead the technology, rather than the other way around.’ 

AI, algorithms and autonomy in the wider world

• ASEAN: Southeast Asia needs to balance AI innovation and regulation: East Asia Forum reports on the numerous efforts across ASEAN partners in ‘establishing policies and regulations on AI development and deployment.’ The piece draws parallels with EU’s AI Act, and makes a case against ‘over regulation’ in ASEAN to ‘foster a competitive and inclusive AI ecosystem while upholding ethical values to prevent potential malicious outcomes from the use of cutting-edge technology.’ 
• International: AI development’s speed stretches risk assessments to breaking point: Financial Times report on the evolving challenges to evaluate AI systems due to rapid technological advances in the sector. While calling most existing evaluation criteria ‘monolithic’, the piece expresses concern that existing benchmarks for performance, accuracy and safety may soon be obsolete due to pace of advancement. 
• Australia: Risky business of using algorithms in immigration detention: This piece by Wendy Yang at LSJ Media highlights the risks associated with using automated decision making in immigration detention. While highlighting the use of systems such as ‘Security Risk Assessment Tool (SRAT)’, the piece quotes Dr Daniel Ghezelbash, Associate Professor and Deputy Director of the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at UNSW Sydney, who says that ‘more significant the rights are that are in question, the more the need for transparency around how the algorithm operates as well as the accountability mechanisms for appealing or reviewing decisions made by the algorithm.’ 

Facial recognition, biometric identification, surveillance 

• India: India Using Artificial Intelligence To Target Religious Minorities: This piece by Religion Unplugged highlights the possibility of exemplifying pre-existing religious bias against minorities, specifically in the use of facial recognition technologies by law enforcement agencies. Shivangi Narayan, a member of the Algorithmic Governance Research Network said that ‘the problem is not in using cameras to reinforce police work, but the biases that law enforcement in India already hold have become very evident.’ 
• US: The Future of America’s Biggest Spy Program Is Being Decided Right Now: Wired reports on the attempts to re-authorise the 702 program by the US congress, which would have allowed for mass surveillance domestically and internationally, and the eventual failure to reauthorise the same in a latest vote. 
• Israel/Palestine: Israel – Stop using biometric mass surveillance against Palestinians: This post by Article 19, an NGO working on freedom of expression and freedom to engage in public life without fear of discrimination, calls on Israel to stop the use of biometric surveillance systems against Palestinians. This piece refers to investigative reports on the same by The New York Times and the recent piece in +972 Magazine on the use of Lavender systems.  

Research and reports

• Report: At Work and Under Watch: This report by Oxfam shares findings of two recent surveys, namely the National Survey of Amazon Warehouse Workers and the National Survey of Walmart Warehouse Workers, which ‘explored the role that new forms of technology-enabled worker monitoring are playing in the lives of warehouse workers.’