Fighting Should End Before AI Takes Over Wars: Zelensky

Artificial intelligence may soon call the shots in war, Ukraine's leader warned at the United Nations on Wednesday. President Volodymyr Zelensky told the General Assembly that as early as next year, there is "a real possibility" that AI—not just humans—will be deciding outcomes on the battlefield, the Hill reports, moving into the physical world. "And when that happens," he told the body, "we had better be at peace."

His remarks followed reporting that a Russian drone that killed three people in Zaporizhzhia used commercially available Nvidia minicomputers to help choose targets, prompting one Ukrainian commander to liken the situation to a Terminator scenario. Zelensky also said:

• Other nations should keep choking Russia's revenues and impede its war efforts. "When someone gives Russia more money through trade, they give this war more time," he said, per the AP, speaking in English.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to lack interest in ending the fighting. "Something always seems to stop Putin from saying, 'That's it. Enough. Peace,'" Zelensky said. "Can you even imagine him without war? He is 'Patient Zero,' the one from whom war keeps spreading further. ... 'Patient Zero' must be stopped."