Humanity is “dangerously close to crossing a moral red line”, says organization
The United Nations published an appeal on Tuesday (Aug. 25, 2026) for countries at war not to use fully autonomous weapons guided by artificial intelligence. The statement says the concern is that life and death decisions are made by machines incapable of distinguishing civilians in conflict zones.
“We are dangerously close to crossing a moral red line: the autonomous attack of humans by machines”said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in a joint statement with Red Cross President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger.
The declaration calls for the immediate start of negotiations for the adoption of a legally binding instrument that regulates autonomous weapons systems, establishing clear prohibitions and restrictions.
According to Guterres and Egger, the lack of prohibitions will leave future generations a world where accountability for lethal attacks will be more difficult to establish and where guarantees of humanitarian law are called into question.
A meeting is expected to be held in Geneva (Switzerland) next week to discuss possible new rules amid growing concerns about the role of AI-controlled weapons, which have been used in conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan, the Gaza Strip, Iran and the Gulf.
Fully autonomous weapons are already used by some armies, such as anti-missile systems on warships, but, to date, there is no confirmation of their use against human targets.
The UN and Red Cross chiefs also said that the 7th Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, scheduled for November, will be an opportunity for countries to decide to move towards negotiating a legally binding instrument, such as an international treaty.
Source: https://www.poder360.com.br/poder-internacional/onu-alerta-para-uso-de-armas-controladas-por-ia/
