2024 - NATO AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: NAVIGATING THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
SVEN CLEMENT (Luxembourg) - SPECIAL REPORT

24 November 2024

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is set to rapidly change how people live and work, but also the ways in which wars will be fought. Experts believe that the integration of AI into military systems has the potential to revolutionise warfare. The potential use cases of AI in the military are far-reaching and promise advancements on decision-making, autonomous systems, and the role of soldiers. However, the actual process of incorporating AI into armed forces remains challenging. Procurement processes require adjustments, interoperability across armies cannot be taken for granted, and the prospect of AI-powered weapons raises significant ethical and legal questions.

It is, nonetheless, clear that AI will be widely adopted. Various countries and international organisations are already engaged in efforts to navigate the opportunities and challenges of AI through the adoption of strategies and regulatory frameworks. This report takes stock of ongoing efforts by NATO and Allies as well as external actors, such as China and Russia, to integrate AI into the armed forces. Due to the inherent dual-use characteristics of many AI applications and the fact that innovation is mainly driven by non-military entities, this mapping exercise covers both civilian and military activities. Yet, the broad applicability of AI necessitates a thematic focus, which in the context of this report will be the military sector.

To successfully navigate the challenges and opportunities of this process, the Alliance and NATO Parliamentarians should:

- raise awareness for the role of AI to enhance its legitimacy and the acceptance of increased investments whilst taking into account the inherent dual-use aspect of AI;

- engage in close discussions to strike a balance between political and military considerations; work towards up-to-date and coherent strategic documents and activities;

- support ongoing efforts to create an innovation ecosystem to make AI available for armed forces; enhance cooperation with the EU and other partners; continue the development of standards for an ethical use of AI;

- and engage with external actors to reach universally agreed-upon standards.