Professor Toni Erskine speaks at Global Nobel Laureates Assembly on AI and Nuclear War at the Vatican
Professor Toni Erskine from the Department of International Relations in the Coral Bell School, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, was invited to speak at the Global Nobel Laureates Assembly on Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear War, held at Borgo Laudato Si’, Vatican in July 2026.
Speaking on a panel on "Moral Challenges of AI and War" alongside H.E. Ambassador Alexander Kmentt, Dr Gary Marcus, Emelia Probasco, and Nobel Peace Laureate Professor Jody Williams, Professor Erskine's address to the Assembly drew on her Defence-funded research into how AI and automated systems are changing decision making on the resort of force.
Across three days of public panels and closed-door meetings, she also contributed to deliberations among political, scientific, and religious leaders on the drafting of the Rome Declaration on Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear Weapons. Her working group on “A New Architecture of Global Responsibility” specifically addressed themes including world governance structures, multilateral institutions, AI regulation, international law, the prospect of US-Russia-China dialogues, and concrete institutional pathways towards the Rome Declaration.
It has been such a privilege participating in the Global Nobel Laureates Assembly on Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear War, working towards the Rome Declaration on an Unarmed and Disarming Peace in an Age of Artificial Intelligence. Speaking alongside a wonderful group of global leaders, Nobel laureates, policy makers, scientists, and representatives of faith traditions was a huge honour and incredibly inspiring.
- Professor Toni Erskine
Following the Assembly, Professor Erskine attended the official signing ceremony for the resulting Rome Declaration on AI and Nuclear Weapons, held at the Senatorial Palace on Capitoline Hill in Rome. The Declaration was signed by the Nobel Laureates in attendance, including ANU colleague Professor Brian Schmidt. Nobel Peace Laureate Professor Maria Ressa and others spoke on the Declaration's significance at the ceremony, which was followed by an international press conference.
