The Stop Killer Robots Campaign, of which the World Council of Churches (WCC) is an active member, has received the 2024 Golden Dove International Peace Prize. Religions for Peace Australia actively supports this campaign and has conducted events in collaboration with the Stop Killer Robots Campaign.
Accepting the award is Peter Asaro, professor of Philosophy of Science and Technology at the School of Media Studies at the New School in New York and vice president of the campaign.
Asaro said: “The Stop Killer Robots Campaign is honoured to receive the Golden Dove Peace Prize. Artificial intelligence will play a key role in the way we live as individuals, as a society and as a global community, so it is critical that we establish international law to regulate autonomy applied to weapon systems.”
He added that the dehumanisation, targeting, and killing of people in military contexts by AI is unacceptable, as is its use in policing, border control, and society at large.
“Decisions on life or death cannot be delegated to machines,” Asaro said.
Speaking at the 79th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York, Asaro emphasised the opportunity offered to states to “act with urgency and show continued political leadership on the issue of autonomous weapons.”
“This is not science fiction. Autonomous weapons and AI targeting systems are already being deployed in conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine and likely elsewhere. Who will be held accountable for the humanitarian harms and human rights violations that result?” stated Peter Prove, director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs. “The international community must stop the further deployment of such weapons, by urgently establishing a treaty to ban them. We are proud to partner with the other members of the Stop Killer Robots Campaign in pursuing that objective” he concluded.
Jennifer Philpot-Nissen, World Council of Churches programme executive for Human Rights and Disarmament, said: “This is a well-deserved acknowledgement of the efforts of the many campaigners around the world who are tirelessly working to raise awareness of the risks that fully autonomous weapons systems pose in our lives. WCC will continue to support the campaign, particularly in partnership with its interfaith members, to achieve our common goal of a global ban on the development and use of killer robots.”
The Golden Dove for Peace, designed by sculptor Pericle Fazzini, is awarded annually to journalists and an international personality who have committed themselves to peace.
On 12 October, the official awards ceremony will take place.
