Lessons from 25 years of digital technology negotiations at the United Nations
Co-hosted with the Hamilton Lugar School and the Luddy School
What can be learned from the UN negotiations on cyber in the context of international security (from 2004-2021) and those on lethal autonomous weapon systems (2014-present) applicable to the objectives of developing shared understanding of Responsible AI (RAI) in the military domain and accelerating international operationalization of RAI practices?
In this discussion with former UNIDIR Deputy Director Kerstin Vignard, we will explore what can be learned from how the international community has approached the development of norms of responsible State behavior in the absence of appetite for new treaties. Would a similar approach focusing on reaffirming existing international law, agreement on norms, identification of confidence-building measures, and the development of capacity-building initiatives suffice in the field of military applications of AI? Or have these approaches proven too slow to keep pace with the speed of innovation while excluding key stakeholders, such as technologists and the private sector?
Bio
Ms. Vignard is an international security policy professional with interests at the nexus of international policy, technology, and responsible innovation. Her areas of expertise include AI, autonomous technologies, cyber, and human enhancement.
Following a 25-year career at the United Nations, in 2021 Vignard joined the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) where she works on a range of issues related to improving technical advice to multilateral policy fora and engaging technologists on ethical, legal, and social implications of innovation. Prior to joining APL, Vignard was the deputy director of the UN’s international security thinktank, UNIDIR (2012-2019), and UNIDIR’s chief of projects and publications (2005-2012). Vignard was responsible for building UNIDIR’s Security and Technology programme, and established UNIDIR’s workstreams on AI-enabled weapon systems and cyber issues. From 2019 to 2021, Vignard was on special assignment leading the UNIDIR team supporting the Chairmen of the Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on Cyber Security and the first Open-Ended Working Group on ICTs. She also led UNIDIR’s team supporting four previous cyber GGEs.
In 2021 Vignard was named to the list “100 brilliant women in AI ethics” and is a research scholar affiliated with the Institute for Assured Autonomy.