Global Nobel Laureates call for the abolition of nuclear weapons, noting risks of AI integration

A Global Assembly of Nobel Laureates called Thursday for rapid action to bring about the complete elimination of nuclear weapons. The Assembly was initiated by IPPNW and the Nobel Laureates Assembly for the Prevention of Nuclear War and was hosted by the Vatican at Castel Gandolfo, the Pope’s summer residence.

Global Nobel Laureates Assembly on Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear War highlighted the growing danger of nuclear war posed by artificial intelligence in nuclear command and control systems. In its Rome Declaration, the Assembly called for “urgent, sustained and good-faith negotiations leading, within an agreed and time-bound framework, to the verifiable and irreversible elimination of nuclear weapons.”

Dr. James Muller, IPPNW co-founder, underscored the urgency of US-Russian relations in this crisis noting, “The US and Russia hold 90% of the world’s nuclear weapons, with no arms control treaties currently in place. Renewed dialogue between them is essential to eliminating this existential threat to life.”

“The danger of nuclear war has never been greater, and AI compounds and heightens that risk. The integration of AI and nuclear weapons systems is already well underway, and since that process cannot be reversed, we must eliminate nuclear weapons,” said Ruth Mitchell, chair of the board of IPPNW.

The meeting was held at the Vatican in light of the Catholic Church’s strong position favoring the abolition of nuclear weapons and the recent encyclical by Pope Leo calling for guardrails on the use of artificial intelligence. The Holy See was the first country to join the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.