During the 80th United Nations General Assembly High-Level Week 2025 in New York, Prime Minister Dick Schoof of the Netherlands officially launched GC REAIM’s “Responsible by Design: Strategic Guidance Report on the Risks, Opportunities, and Governance of Artificial Intelligence in the Military Domain” at the United Nations Security Council debate on “Artificial Intelligence and International Peace and Security”, chaired by the Republic of Korea.
The responsible development and use of AI in the military domain requires informed human decisions and context-specific approaches to designing, testing, and deploying these technologies in ways that uphold values of peace and human dignity. With this report, GC REAIM proposes modalities for global cooperation to foster warranted trust in the responsible use of AI systems, paving the way towards the institutionalization of governance for AI in the military domain.
Prof. Jeroen van den Hoven, scientific director of the Delft Digital Ethics Centre, is one of the Commissioners, who functioned as workstream facilitator and member of the drafting Committee of the report.
Artificial intelligence is a transformative and civilization-shaping technology. Its integration into the military domain has profound implications for how armed conflict is conducted, including how decisions are made and responsibilities are managed in one of the most consequential areas of human activity. The stakes extend beyond the battlefield, introducing heightened risks in the context of international peace and security.
GC REAIM advocates for responsibility by design, where ethical and legal considerations are integrated from the earliest stage of development, through the entire AI system lifecycle, in the relevant socio-technical systems and institutions, like militaries, where AI applications are embedded. In furthering this objective, GC REAIM seeks to foster collaboration among states by supporting capacity and capability development. The recommendations proposed by GC REAIM are intended to be adaptable, allowing all states to implement them, regardless of their individual starting points and priorities.
GC REAIM recognizes that normative questions about human agency cannot be answered in the abstract. Norms and principles must be translated into actionable guidelines and standards. Addressing these considerations, GC REAIM presents three guiding principles and five core recommendations which form the foundation of a set of tailored recommendations for responsible practices on all levels of the socio-technical AI system lifecycle, including organizational design considerations, as well as specific guidance for states, militaries and industry.
More on the report: New GC REAIM Strategic Guidance Report on Responsible AI in the Military Domain – HCSS
Read the full report: GC-REAIM-Strategic-Guidance-Report-Final-WEB.pdf