At Security Council Briefing, Experts Voice Concern over Impact of Scientific Developments, Technology on Peace and Security
Early understanding of today’s rapidly emerging scientific and technological advances may be the best way to ensure these cutting-edge developments enhance international peace and security, rather than create new human-made horrors and security threats, experts told the Security Council today. The Council heard from four experts who stressed the Council’s crucial role in staying on top of quantum technology, artificial general intelligence and other scientific developments to maintain global security.
After holding a morning debate, the Council unanimously adopted a presidential statement reaffirming its primary responsibility to maintain international peace and security, consistent with the Charter of the United Nations. By the presidential statement (to be issued as S/PRST/2024/6), the 15‑member organ acknowledged that scientific development can play a role in upholding that responsibility and enhance mutual trust and cooperation.
Robin Geiss, Director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, said policymakers have much less time to react and adapt to new technologies and scientific advances. “With the scientific and technological landscape evolving at such a blistering pace, we often lack a clear sense of what is being developed, by whom and with which resulting impacts, including for international peace and security,” he said, adding this trend is compounded by the siloed nature of today’s international arms control architecture. To create timely and effective policy responses to future crises and properly protect civilians, peacekeepers and humanitarians, the international community must increase its understanding of the growing threats and opportunities arising from scientific and technological developments. Quantum technology and artificial general intelligence will impact peace and security in many ways, he said.
Anticipation and early understanding of emerging technologies can let the Council and other decision makers take informed action to leverage potential benefits and prevent or mitigate novel threats arising from lack of awareness, loss of control or miscalculation. “The Pact for the Future rightly stresses the need for evidence-based knowledge as the basis for policymaking,” he said. “This is particularly relevant for science and technology, where media hype often reaches us more rapidly than sound, factual, scientific knowledge.” With its primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security, the Council could strengthen the UN system’s ability to better prevent or respond to newly emerging threats, bolstering the prospect of sustained peace and security.
Also briefing the Council, Jocelyne Bloch, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, gave the Council an example of how a scientific development using artificial intelligence (AI) can impact peace, humanity and international security. A neurosurgeon, she outlined a scientific project that developed a digital bridge between the brain and spinal cord. This digital bridge consists of one electronic implant with electrodes that makes it possible to record the activity of neurons in the brain that encode leg motor skills. A second implant stimulates the area of the spinal cord that produces the movement of the legs. “An artificial intelligence decodes the patient’s thoughts based on recordings, and programmes spinal cord stimulation to allow the paralysed person to walk again naturally,” she said, adding the same principle was used to restore arm movement in a quadriplegic patient and will be used for paralysis related to strokes and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease.
A third briefer, Grégoire Courtine, neuroscientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, said neurosciences and neurotechnology are advancing so quicky that “we can already predict that over the next decade, the number of patients suffering from paralysis should be able to have access to these treatments”. This progress will significantly impact the lives of people, particularly injured sports persons, soldiers returning from battle paralysed or collateral civilian victims. In addition to the clear improvement of patients’ physical and mental health, “beating paralysis will have an important impact on society and on the economy”, he said, confessing that these innovations raise ethical and security questions.
The final expert, Amin Awad, President of the Foundation Council of Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF), said that, at the height of the Gulf War, in January 1991, he was on the Iraq-Jordan border with the United Nations, preparing for a chemical weapons attack. He was struck by the “chilling realization” that science had become a saviour, in the form of a protective suit and antidote injectors, as well as the creator of “human-made horrors”.
Breakthroughs in emerging technologies have the power to change the world. “This is our collective wake-up call,” he said. “Due to the acceleration of science, the Security Council and the United Nations have to remain seized of these developments and consider the importance of existing normative frameworks.” The family of treaties that constitute international humanitarian law, particularly the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols, have survived the test of time, remain relevant and offer a beacon of hope. Member States in the Council and General Assembly have proven that they can create universally accepted norms that govern the conduct of hostilities... “providing crucial protections for civilians, prisoners of war and aid workers”, he said. “We need to ensure that these technologies do not become the chemical weapons of tomorrow and are instead harnessed for the good of humanity.”
Ignazio Cassis, Federal Councillor and Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, which is serving as President of the Council for the month of October, speaking in his national capacity, said that the world is obliged to look at global dynamics through the prism of science, because its rapid acceleration will have a profound impact on all aspects of our lives. Neurotechnology will soon be able to improve soldiers’ precision, endurance and pain tolerance. These advances will allow soldiers to acquire new senses, such as, being able to see in the dark. The integration of AI in technologies will enable ultra-fast decision-making. “We must prepare ourselves to address future challenges related to science because the future is here,” he added.
“Emerging technologies should be developed and used responsibly to prevent conflicts, ensuring rule of law, human dignity and human security,” said Kaji Misako, Ambassador for Science and Technology Cooperation as Special Assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan. Cutting-edge technologies keep advancing at top speed. It has become ever more important to address these challenges in an environment safe for innovation, including through regulations and collaboration, she said.
“The way we utilize science and technology will determine whether this ‘Oppenheimer moment’ leads to enhanced security or unprecedented disruption,” echoed the representative of the Republic of Korea.
Other speakers urged the Council to prioritize technology transfer and capacity-building for the Global South and address the technological divide. “Science should unite us, not exacerbate gaps further,” said Algeria’s representative. “As these groundbreaking technologies emerge, we risk deepening the gap between developed and developing countries,” he warned.
All nations can participate in and benefit from scientific progress, said Sierra Leone’s delegate. “Effectively harnessing scientific innovations for peace and security requires enhanced international cooperation,” he added, citing the Secretary-General’s emphasis on needing more multilateral forums to address the potential impact of this advancement of global security.
Noting that most armed conflicts occur in the developing world where these new tools are not being developed, the representative of Guyana said “this Council, and the international community as a whole, must ensure that the developing world does not become the playground for the developers to test the lethal effect of their new tools”.
Added France’s representative: “What is at stake is the safety of blue helmets and United Nations workers deployed in the field.” Scientific developments are at the heart of international justice, fighting impunity and ensuring accountability, particularly in the collection of evidence where it is suspected that crimes have been committed in conflict areas.
Other speakers said that the use of neurotechnology presents serious ethical concerns, with Ecuador’s delegate warning that such advancements can be used for possible “brain hacking and the manipulation of cognitive and sensorial capacities of soldiers”.
The representative of Slovenia said rules, norms and principles that govern the development, deployment and use of these advancements should be established to mitigate risks and strike a balance between innovation and ethical standards. The delegate of the United States said the question raised by these technologies is “how do we govern them and manage their associated risks rather than allowing” them “to govern us”.
The representative of the United Kingdom called on the Council to deepen its collaboration with the scientific community to strengthen national, regional and international governance approaches to enable economic growth and development while mitigating security risks. Malta’s speaker noted that as the world has become increasingly interconnected, “it remains in our interest to leverage these advancements towards international cooperation, peace and security and gender equality”.
Other speakers cautioned about the consequences of the improper use and management of new scientific frontiers. China’s speaker said the recent conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon “showed us the unimaginable destruction and civilian causalities caused by AI-driven algorithms and remote manipulation”. Technology misused in violation of international humanitarian law must be condemned and resisted. “Because technology is a double-edged sword, there must be a balance in development and security as well as innovation and risk management,” he said.
The delegate of the Russian Federation said: “The priority for international cooperation should not be hiding behind pretty slogans whilst enshrining the technological supremacy of one country over others, but rather the bridging of technological and digital gaps between the developed and developing countries.” He regretted that countries of the Global South, lacking modern technology and scientific data, are vulnerable to complex crises.
The representative of Mozambique urged the United Nations to establish robust ethical guidelines and regulatory frameworks. “The Pact for the Future can breathe new life into our collective aspirations,” he said. “By reinforcing a multilateral system grounded in shared principles, vision and goals, we can foster stronger global cooperation to benefit peace and security.”