About 60 countries including the United States endorsed a "blueprint for action" to govern responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the military yesterday, but China was among those which did not support the legally non-binding document.

The Responsible AI in the Military Domain (REAIM) summit in Seoul, the second of its kind, follows one held in The Hague last year. At that time, around 60 nations including China endorsed a modest "call to action" without legal commitment.

Government representatives yesterday said this year's "blueprint" was more action-oriented, in keeping with advanced discussions and developments in the military such as AI-enabled dronesbeing rolled out by Ukraine, which also endorsed the document. 

This includes laying out what kind of risk assessments should be made, important conditions such as human control, and how confidence-building measures can be taken in order to manage risks, he said.

Among the details added in the document was the need to prevent AI from being used to proliferate weapons of mass destruction (WMD) by actors including terrorist groups, and the importance of maintaining human control and involvement in nuclear weapons employment.