Pakistan has urged that the development and use of artificial intelligence be regulated under the principles of the United Nations charter, particularly to prevent its military applications. Addressing a high-level debate on AI at the 80th UN General Assembly session in New York, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said AI must not become a tool of coercion or technological monopoly. He cautioned that unchecked deployment risks destabilising international order and deepening inequalities, a concern shared by many developing nations. The meeting was chaired by South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung as the country currently holds the UN Security Council presidency for September.
In his address, Asif stressed that AI is a dual-use technology with far-reaching implications for peace and security. He pointed to recent military exchanges between nuclear-armed neighbours where autonomous munitions and high-speed dual-capable cruise missiles were used, warning that such incidents illustrate the dangers AI can pose in lowering the threshold for the use of force. He underscored that applications operating without meaningful human control should be prohibited, arguing that AI compresses decision-making time, narrows the window for diplomacy and de-escalation, and blurs the boundaries between cyber, kinetic and informational domains. His call echoed the sentiments of other states at the meeting advocating for international rules to prevent destabilising uses of AI.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, opening the debate, highlighted the benefits of AI for areas such as food security, de-mining and violence prevention, but warned of its weaponisation if left without guardrails. He called for human control and judgment to be preserved in every use of force and urged member states to agree on a legally binding instrument by 2026 banning lethal autonomous weapons systems. He also recalled the establishment of the UN’s Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance, stating that humanity’s fate cannot be left to an algorithm and that innovation must serve humanity rather than undermine it.
The debate also featured interventions from academics and AI experts. Yejin Choi, a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Institute for Human-Centred Artificial Intelligence, said the current progress in AI is too concentrated among a handful of companies and countries, leaving much of the world excluded. She pressed for stronger representation of linguistic and cultural diversity and for investment in smaller, more adaptive systems that could lower barriers to entry for underrepresented regions. Her remarks underscored concerns from the Global South about equitable AI governance.
Pakistan’s own AI policy framework is evolving. In July, the federal cabinet approved the National AI Policy 2025, which outlines training one million AI professionals by 2030, establishing an AI Innovation Fund and AI Venture Fund to boost private sector involvement, creating 50,000 AI-driven civic projects and developing 1,000 local AI products over the next five years. On Tuesday, Google announced the rollout of its “Google AI Plus plan” in 40 more countries, including Pakistan, which its Country Director Farhan Qureshi said reflects the creativity Pakistanis have shown in adopting AI tools. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the July cabinet meeting called the youth Pakistan’s greatest asset and emphasised the importance of providing them with education, skills and equal opportunities in AI. These developments highlight how Pakistan is positioning itself in global discussions about the responsible use of AI while building domestic capacity to benefit from the technology.
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