Vatican presses world leaders at UN to work on rules for lethal autonomous weapons

By JENNIFER PELTZ
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Vatican’s top diplomat is urging world leaders to put a pause on lethal autonomous weapons systems for long enough to negotiate a legally binding agreement on them. Archbishop Paul Gallagher spoke Tuesday at the U.N. General Assembly’s big annual meeting. He joined a series of speakers who have expressed concern about various aspects of artificial intelligence. Lethal autonomous weapons are sometimes dubbed “killer robots.” The Holy See’s foreign minister called for starting talks toward a legally binding pact to govern such systems and for what he described as “a moratorium on them” until negotiations conclude.