As wars escalate and AI advances unchecked, autonomous weapons—“killer robots”—are no longer science fiction. These machines, capable of making lethal decisions without human oversight, pose urgent legal, ethical, and security threats. Years before AI dominated global headlines, civil society launched a bold and visionary campaign to ban lethal autonomous weapons systems, warning against a future where technology is used not to protect but to kill.
In this session, we’ll hear from two key leaders in that fight:
Richard Moyes, former coordinator of the Stop Killer Robots coalition, co-founder of Article 36, and a major force behind international treaties banning cluster munitions and nuclear weapons.
Gisela Luján Andrade, founder of Perú por el Desarme and a regional leader in AI ethics and humanitarian disarmament, and played a critical role in securing Peru’s ratification of the nuclear ban treaty.
Richard and Gisela will share insights from the Stop Killer Robots campaign—its progress, its challenges, and its ongoing push for a binding international treaty. They’ll reflect on how the movement reshaped global conversations, built powerful coalitions, and challenged the influence of tech giants like Microsoft, Google, and Nvidia, much like the Fossil Fuel Treaty movement faces off against entrenched fossil fuel interests.
Drawing on their deep experience across humanitarian disarmament efforts, they’ll explore what it takes to transform ethical concern into international law, and how global norms can be reshaped before catastrophe strikes. As they advocate for AI to be used in the service of humanity, not as a tool of violence, they’ll unpack the role of national and regional campaigning, especially in the Global South, in building the political will needed for a treaty.
As the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty campaign charts its path forward, this session offers powerful lessons on sustaining momentum to confront powerful industries, building strong coalitions, and pushing multilateral systems to act before it’s too late.
Live translations: Available in Spanish and French