Statements from the 2024 Vienna Conference on Autonomous Weapon Systems

High-level opening

Welcome by Verena Gleitsmann
Opening remarks by H.E. Alexander Schallenberg, Federal Minister for European and International Affairs of the Republic of Austria
Monsignore Giuseppe Francone, Holy See
Keynote speech by Jaan Tallinn, Co-founder of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, University of Cambridge

High-level panel: “Humanity at a Crossroads with AWS: Are we losing human control?

Moderator: Verena Gleitsmann
Ms. Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross
Mr. Alexander Schallenberg, Federal Minister for European and International Affairs of the Republic of Austria
Dr Hasan Mahmud, M.P., Hon’ble Foreign Minister, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Mr. Arnoldo André Tinoco, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Costa Rica
Mr. Eivind Vad Petersson, State Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Norway
Mr. Jaan Tallinn, Co-founder of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, University of Cambridge

High-level panel: “Geopolitics and machine politics: How to move forward on AWS”?

Dr Anthony Aguirre, Executive Director, The Future of Life Institute
Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu, United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs
Mr. Igli Hasani, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Albania
Ms. Aruni Wijewardane, Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka
Mr. Timothy Musa Kabba, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Sierra Leone

Panel 1 – Emerging technologies, AWS and the (future) shape of conflict

Co-moderators: Eline Bötger, Senior Policy Officer for Security Policy, Dutch MFA and George-Wilhelm Gallhofer, Deputy Director for Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, Austrian MFA
Dr Beyza Unal, Head of Science and Technology Unit, Science and Technology Unit, UNODA
Mr. Franz-Stefan Gady, Defense Analyst, Senior Fellow, Institute for International Strategic Studies (IISS), and Adjunct Senior Fellow, Center for New American Security in Washington DC
Dr Agnes Callamard, Secretary General, Amnesty International
Ms. Jimena Viveros, Member of the United Nations High-level Advisory Body on AI Chief of Staff and Head Legal Advisor, Mexican Supreme Court
Ms. Elina Noor, Senior Fellow, Asia Programme, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Panel 2 – Human control and accountability under the law

Co-moderators: Co-moderator from Sierra Leone, Robert Karoma of the Permanent Mission in Geneva, and Andreas Bilgeri, Counsellor, Permanent Mission of Austria to the Office of the UN and Special Organisations in Geneva
Prof Arthur Mutambara, Director, Institute for the Future of Knowledge, University of Johannesburg
Dr Frank Sauer, Head of Research, Metis Institute for Strategy and Foresight, University of the Bundeswehr Munich
Dr Cordula Dröge, Chief Legal Officer and Head of the Legal Division, International Committee of the Red Cross
Prof Harold Hongju Koh, Sterling Professor of International Law, Yale Law School
Mr. Richard Moyes, Director, Article 36

Panel 3 – Human dignity and the ethics of algorithms

Co-moderators: Jan Michael Gomez, Acting Director, Peace and Security Office of United Nations and International Organizations, MFA of the Philippines, and Dr Caroline Wörgötter, Head of Unit for Conventional Weapons and Disarmament-Related Aspects of New Technologies, Austrian MFA
Ms. Peggy Hicks, Director, Thematic Engagement, Special Procedures and Right to Development Division, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Prof Amal El Fallah Seghrouchni, Executive President of the International Centre of Artificial Intelligence of Morocco, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University
Dr Neil Renic, Researcher at the Centre for Military Studies, University of Copenhagen
Dr Fan Yang, Assistant Professor of International Law, Law School of Xiamen University
Ms. Anja Kaspersen, Director for Global Markets Development and Frontier Technologies, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Panel 4 – How dealing with AWS will shape future human-technology relations

Co-moderators: Ambassador Christian Guillermet Fernández, Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the United Nations in Geneva, and Ambassador Alexander Kmentt, Director for Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, Austrian MFA
Dr Patricia Lewis, Research Director, International Security, Chatham House
Prof Mary Ellen O‘Connell, Robert & Marion Short Professor of Law and Professor of International Peace Studies, Kroc Institute at University of Notre Dame
Dr Thompson Chengeta, Reader in Law, Liverpool John Moores University, and Board Member, UN Secretary General Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters
Prof Kenneth Payne, Professor of Strategy, King’s College London
Ms. Emilia Javorsky MD, MPH, Director of the Futures Programme, The Future of Life Institute

Statements

Closing session