A mostly robotised machine gun used in Ukraine that relies on a smartphone camera matched with video-game targeting. Photo: NY Times
A group advising the government about killer robots has been shut down due to a lack of resources.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the news in an email to group members.
A participant says it is disappointing at a "critical time" when militaries have begun experimenting with autonomous weapon systems - such as in Ukraine, where a new, cheap and mostly robotised machine gun has been cobbled together that relies on a smartphone camera matched with video-game targeting.
Cabinet noted at the setting up of the working group across agencies and external experts in 2021 that this "acknowledged the value that a diverse, multi-disciplinary body could bring to the elaboration of further government policy on these systems" on really difficult legal, ethical and political questions.
However, "we have made the decision to formally pause the work of the AWS Working Group, due to resourcing constraints", the ministry has now told members.
Group member Dr Tom Gregory of Auckland University questioned that, saying they got a "tiny" per diem and only met online.
"This is a very disappointing development at the precise moment that we are seeing AI-equipped weapons being used on battlefields in various conflicts," said Gregory.
"It's very disappointing to see the government seemingly abandon its efforts to regulate these weapons."
MFAT told RNZ in May that "technological advancements in the areas of autonomy are moving quickly".
The ministry admitted this week that "the only financial costs associated with the group were the small honorarium payments" for non-government members.
But Gregory said the time for critical questions was now, including if people wanted the New Zealand Defence Force to serve alongside autonomous-weapon equipped militaries.
"The stakes could not be higher," he said.
"This technology has the capacity to accelerate the violence that's inflicted on the battlefield and amplify the potential for mistakes."
The ministry ran the working group, and told RNZ it had done useful and valid work.
"We are open to hearing from group members on any issues... and look forward to keeping in touch with them," it said in a statement.
"This pause does not signal a change in the prioritisation of MFAT's work on autonomous weapon systems, or our engagement with academia and civil society."
Its email to members said: "We are grateful for the group's valuable contributions to our collective understanding over the past two years, and we remain steadfastly committed to multilateral consensus on autonomous weapon systems."
Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs Todd McClay praised the group as "extremely helpful in assisting the government and upholding New Zealand's consistent position" on the weapons, reconfirmed at the start of 2024.
"Unfortunately, the disappointing lack of international progress towards agreement on rules and limits remains slow, and for this reason MFAT has temporarily paused convening meetings of the Autonomous Weapon Systems Working Group," he said in a statement.
McClay echoed the ministry's line about not signalling any change in priorities.
Gregory said he did not know of any other group providing the government such an expert opinion on the weapons, as the academics and computer scientists on the group had done.
But it had been subject to "radio silence" from the ministry for months, before learning it was being shuttered, he said.
The autonomous weapons issue is also a focus of Aukus Pillar Two, a defence pact for sharing advanced military technology that New Zealand is interested in joining alongside the US, Australia and UK.
The working group pause coincides with the government considering a new plan for equipping the military out to 2040, which has not yet been released publicly.
It also comes at a time when more big technology companies are moving more into the defence and national security space. Amazon has secured a $2 billion-plus with Australia's spy agencies, and says its cloud-computing services can "help National Security and Defence (NSD) agencies in Australia and New Zealand enable innovation, improve citizen experiences, and simplify inter-agency collaboration".
War has cut the technical barriers dramatically, as in Ukraine, with its robot machineguns and kamikaze drones. "While these weapons aren't as advanced as expensive military-grade systems made by the United States, China and Russia, what makes the developments significant is their low cost - just thousands of dollars or less - and ready availability," the New York Times reported.
A machinegun maker told the Times he could modify the gun to remove the human element of a soldier pulling the trigger entirely, with a quick tweak so the gun would aim and fire itself.