Addressing the Informal Exchanges on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Military Domain and its Implications for International Peace and Security, on 15 June 2026, at the United Nations in Geneva, Ambassador and Permanent Representative Sumith Dassanayake highlighted Sri Lanka’s strong position to negotiate a legally binding instrument to address the challenges and concerns posed by emerging technologies in the area of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS).
In his intervention, Ambassador Sumith Dassanayake emphasised that on-going discussions in the UN system should evolve beyond autonomous weapons systems and need to increasingly focus on new and emerging AI capabilities such as AI Decision Support Systems (AI-DSS), AI cyber capabilities, integrating AI into nuclear weapons etc.
Ambassador Sumith Dassanayake further underscored that the application of AI in the military domain raises serious concerns regarding human responsibility, accountability, the increased risk of miscalculation and escalation of potential violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Sri Lanka strongly advocates for human centrality throughout the life cycle of AI in Military Domain and strongly opposes the dehumanization of decision-making and the transfer of life-and-death decisions to machines and algorithms.
The informal exchanges were convened in Geneva pursuant to the mandate of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 80/58 presented by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Republic of Korea. Sri Lanka also voted in favour of the resolution.
Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Geneva
16 June 2026