Slovenia

Slovenia has participated in all Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) meetings on autonomous weapons systems. In a statement at the United Nations General Assembly First Committee in 2018, Slovenia stressed the necessity of preserving ‘the autonomy of human control over computational methods, with the possibility of human intervention in all phases of lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS).’^[1]Statement by Slovenia, UN General Assembly First Committee, 15 October 2018, https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com18/statements/15Oct_Slovenia.pdf It further stated at the CCW Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (GGE on LAWS) in 2021 that ‘artificial intelligence can serve to support the military decision-making process and contribute to certain advantages, but cannot in any way substitute it. It is necessary, in our view, to preserve the autonomy of human control over artificial intelligence, with the possibility of human intervention in all phases of LAWS operation.’^[2]Statement by Slovenia, CCW Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS, 27 August 2018, https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/ccw/2018/gge/statements/27August_Slovenia.pdf

Slovenia supports the negotiation of a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems. At the CCW Sixth Review Conference in 2021, it expressed hope that ‘the review conference will not fall short of the mounting expectations and find a proper way towards a legal instrument to prohibit or regulate certain types of weapons, certain level of autonomy in weapons, and autonomy in certain functions of a weapons system.’^[3]Statement by Slovenia, Sixth Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, 13 December 2021, http://149.202.215.129:8080/s2t/UNOG/RCHCP6-13-12-2021-PM_mp3_en.html; please note … Continue reading At the 77th UN General Assembly First Committee meeting in October 2022, Slovenia welcomed the work done so far by the GGE, and said that ‘Slovenia believes that the outcome of the GGE should also take into account the relevant ethical considerations related to decisions taken by human beings.'^[4]Statement by Slovenia, 77th UN General Assembly First Committee, 24 October 2022, https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com22/statements/24Oct_Slovenia.pdf