UK Deputy PM David Lammy calls for AI to strengthen peace and security
Lammy warned the UN Security Council that AI could enable novel biological and chemical weapons and mass disinformation, alongside its use in peacekeeping.
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UK Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy addressed a UN Security Council meeting on artificial intelligence, setting out both the promise and the risks of the technology for international peace and security. He pointed to AI applications in peacekeeping — real-time logistics, sentiment analysis and early-warning systems — while warning of dangers including AI-assisted design of biological and chemical weapons, mass disinformation campaigns, and the risk of unintended military escalation from AI-enabled systems.
Lammy called for new international “safeguards and guardrails” grounded in existing international law, and cited the UK’s AI Security Institute and the Bengio-chaired International AI Safety Report as examples of the kind of collective assessment work he wanted extended multilaterally. The speech committed the UK to no new binding measure; it was a statement of position at a Security Council session rather than the launch of a policy or agreement.