Countries in the Global South have issued repeated warnings against the unchecked deployment of AI systems, with Pakistan recently calling for strict UN regulation closing off avenues for AI to be used as a “tool for coercion”. Defence Minister Khwaja Asif, speaking at a high-level AI debate on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York, warned against patterns of AI misuse being accelerated by technological monopolies and lack of regulation. While noting the transformative potential of AI technologies, he noted the adverse risks of AI deepening inequalities and destabilizing the international order through unchecked deployment in disinformation, offensive cyber-operations, and new types of military technologies.

The Defence Minister also made reference to the India-Pakistan Conflict, noting that “autonomous munitions” were potentially used by one side during the military exchange. The debate stressed the primacy of human judgement and oversight in AI systems, and the absolute necessity of managing AI to further the cause of mutual peace and harmony.