Eugenio Zoffili, Salvatore Deidda and Kamil Aydin in Rome, 5 December 2024ROME, 5 December 2024 – The Fourth Parliamentary Policy Dialogue, dedicated to “Countering the Use of AI and New Technologies for Terrorist Purposes,” convened today in Rome, with several OSCE parliamentarians actively engaging in discussions. Participants focused on addressing threats associated with the potential misuse of artificial intelligence and other new technologies for terrorist purposes, as well as the possible benefits of AI as a powerful tool in detecting threats and preventing radicalization.
Hosted by the Italian Parliament, the event was held in co-operation with the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), bringing together approximately 100 participants from around the world.
Parliamentarians, including members of the Counter-Terrorism Coordination Mechanism for Parliamentary Assemblies, exchanged views with experts and considered possible regulatory contributions of parliamentary assemblies and national parliaments in the prevention and countering the use of AI by terrorist and extremist organizations. Other participants included representatives of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) and the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Eugenio Zoffili, Head of the Italian Delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and Member of the Defence Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, welcomed participants to Rome. He highlighted the timeliness of this issue, stressing that artificial intelligence can be used for both positive and nefarious purposes, and it is up to lawmakers – working with other relevant stakeholders – to ensure that it is used responsibly.
Kamil Aydin (Türkiye), Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Ad Hoc Committee on Countering Terrorism (CCT), also spoke at the opening, noting that a security threat that is international in nature like terrorism cannot be solved solely by national parliaments. “We need to stand together against those who wish to undermine our democratic values and threaten our societies with their malicious acts,” Aydin said.
In this regard, the CCT Chair stressed that terrorism and violent extremism must be addressed at their roots, using a whole-of-society approach. “This approach must also focus on how new technologies and artificial intelligence impact these conditions, for example through AI-optimized recruitment strategies and the manipulation of audio and video content online inciting violence and fear,” he added.
The Fourth Parliamentary Policy Dialogue, “Countering the Use of AI and New Technologies for Terrorist Purposes,” in Rome, 5 December 2024CCT Vice-Chair Emanuele Loperfido (Italy) added that AI has delivered substantial advancements in many sectors, but this same technology also poses significant risks to international security. “As AI capabilities evolve, so does the potential for them to be used in ways that threaten peace and stability,” he said. “For example, widely available AI-driven tools could enable individuals or groups to access technologies—such as drones—that could be misused for surveillance, targeted attacks, or other malicious purposes.”
This is why the OSCE PA and its Ad Hoc Committee on Countering Terrorism have intensified the focus on responding to these ever-evolving challenges, he said. Loperfido pointed in particular to the OSCE PA’s Bucharest Resolution on Artificial Intelligence and the Fight against Terrorism adopted last summer.
This resolution represents one of the first policy attempts to address the dual security impact of the rapid advancement of AI, focused in particular on mitigating the risks of AI misuse in the context of terrorism. It calls upon States to strengthen national legal frameworks that govern AI development and deployment, ensuring robust ethical standards and human oversight, in order to promote responsible AI innovation while safeguarding against its potential misuse.
Intervening as a keynote speaker, CCT Member Tsogtbaatar Damdin (Mongolia) presented the national experience of Mongolia on this emerging security issue and stressed the need to strike a functional balance between underregulating and overregulating AI, with the aim to promote security, innovation, development and protection of human rights. Digital literacy and education were also flagged as critical factors in this context, as well as building solid public-private partnerships.
CCT members Paula Cardoso (Portugal), Jevrosima Pejovic (Montenegro) and Ricardo Tarno (Spain) also actively contributed to the policy debate, exchanging experiences and ideas with their peers from across the globe, stressing the need to enhance international dialogue and co-operation on a topic that has no borders.
To watch today’s conference, please visit the OSCE PA’s website. More information on the Ad Hoc Committee on Countering Terrorism is available here.
