A coalition of more than 220 organizations, including the World Council of Churches, has signed a joint declaration urging governments and technology companies to stop supplying artificial intelligence systems for military “kill chain” operations. The statement was released during a United Nations meeting in Geneva focused on AI in the military domain and warns that AI-enabled warfare poses serious risks to international peace, human rights, and humanitarian law.
The declaration specifically calls on governments and AI developers to halt the deployment of systems used for target identification, decision support, remote biometric surveillance, and autonomous weapons. Signatories argue that companies must ensure their technologies do not contribute to war crimes, human rights abuses, or violations of international humanitarian law. They further contend that if such risks cannot be effectively mitigated, firms should refuse military contracts involving those technologies.
A central concern raised by the statement is the danger of reducing human accountability in life-and-death decisions. Critics of military AI argue that autonomous and semi-autonomous systems can dilute responsibility, accelerate conflict, and make warfare more impersonal. The declaration notes that despite claims that AI can make military operations more precise, real-world deployments suggest that these technologies may instead contribute to more destructive and dehumanizing forms of warfare.
The initiative also reflects growing concern within religious communities about the ethical implications of AI. The declaration comes shortly after Pope Leo XIV called for the world to “disarm AI” and warned against allowing autonomous systems to make lethal decisions. In his recent encyclical, he argued that AI used in warfare should be subject to the strictest ethical constraints and that decisions over life and death must remain under meaningful human control.
The broader message of the declaration is that the global debate over artificial intelligence is no longer limited to productivity, innovation, or economic competition. As AI becomes increasingly integrated into defense systems, religious organizations, human rights groups, legal experts, and civil society advocates are pushing for international rules that ensure technological advances do not outpace ethical safeguards. The Geneva statement adds momentum to a growing worldwide movement seeking stronger regulation of military AI before autonomous warfare becomes a permanent feature of future conflicts.
