In April, Model United Nations was hosted at Roaring Fork High School, with students from neighboring Colorado Rocky Mountain School also participating. In this session, students — or delegates, rather — debated as part of the simulated Disarmament and International Security Council. Each delegate represented a different country around the world.
The topic of debate was “Emerging Technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI),” which is particularly relevant in the world today. The delegates placed emphasis on the role of AI and its possible impacts on warfare, military intelligence and international relations.
The spread of misinformation, and the fact that AI can be used for the wrong reasons, was discussed among the representatives. The most common argument, however, was the possible impact of AI in warfare, military intelligence and the creation of weapons — such as missiles. Another component of this conversation was that only some countries have access to such advanced military technology.
The theme of accountability and AI showed up multiple times during the debate. If the algorithm makes a mistake, who is held responsible for its actions?
“If no one is accountable, no one is safe,” a student representing Iran stated.
At the end of the session, solutions to this problem included: ensuring human input in deciding how AI should be used by each delegate (as proposed by the Canadian delegate); that every country deserves the right to access this technology that should only be used for defensive purposes; and regulating AI as a weapon (as proposed the delegate for Iran).
A common theme was that AI can intensify international warfare and make mistakes, for which no one may take responsibility, leading to possibly increased violence.
“Humans must remain the final decision makers in the use of AI in warfare,” the student representing Canada said.