Sep.10(Tue)
12:30 ~ 13:30
Lotte Hotel Seoul,36th Floor (Peacock Suite)
Panel discussion
This session is intended to be conducted as a discussion between experts with knowledge of the way states in different geographical regions are viewing the possibilities and limitations of using export controls to help regulate military AI. The control lists adopted by the MECRs already have implications for regulating the development and deployment of military AI, through their restrictions on the trade in (i) software that is ‘specially designed’ for the production, development and use of controlled items, and (ii) advanced computers and semi-conductors. However, there is limited understanding of the way these controls are being applied at the domestic level and the impact they are having on the supply chains that support the development and deployment of military AI. Decisions by the United States, the Netherlands and Japan and – more recently – Spain, France and the UK to expand national controls on transfers of advanced semi-conductors are also motivated by an attempt to regulate transfers of systems that are relevant for the development of military AI. However, the contents and objectives of these controls is not closely aligned and the implications of states acting unilaterally and outside the frameworks provided by the MECRs is poorly understood.
In additional to discussing these developments, the panel will also address broader issues relating to the challenge of using export controls to control transfers of software, knowledge and other intangible items; tensions between the non-proliferation aims of export controls and attempts to facilitate advances in innovation; issues of assurance and compliance; and examples where the MECRs have been successful in addressing similar control challenges.
By having discussants with expertise in the application of expert controls to novel technology, and AI in particular, the panel will seek to build awareness of the variety of ways that States are currently addressing the challenge of controlling exports of the tangible and intangible items associated with the development and operation of military AI capabilities. This discussion will be aided by expert input on the ways in which militaries are seeking to utilise AI across multiple capabilities and will thus expand upon international debates which have primarily focused on issues relating to lethal autonomous capabilities. By hosting a diverse range of panel discussants, with both discrete geographic area expertise and a shared understanding of the key features of export controls, the panel will provide an understanding of the divergences between different regional and national approaches, which is another challenge to the successful application of export controls.
SIPRI, Senior Researcher
Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), Associate Research Fellow
SIPRI, Research Assistant Governance of Artificial Intelligence Programme
Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Queensland and Director of Asia-Pacific Institute for Law and Security
Director, Strategic Trade Research Institute