International Catastrophe Law: From Nuclear Weapons to Advanced AI

Abstract

The rights and safety of people worldwide — and the future of humanity itself — are increasingly threatened by global catastrophic risks, including those arising from advanced artificial intelligence. Yet the international legal framework to govern such risks appears fragmented and unclear.

International Catastrophe Law shows that international law is not silent on these threats. Drawing on eleven international legal regimes, from nuclear and biological weapons control to human rights, environmental law, and the emerging law of future generations, this work identifies fifty-seven binding obligations that already require states to mitigate global catastrophic risks. From this archipelago, it derives seven general principles of law which, applied through systemic integration, can guide national and international responses to advanced AI and to any future risks.

The book demonstrates that international law already provides crucial foundations for protecting humanity from its gravest threats — from nuclear weapons to advanced AI.

Matthijs Maas

Senior Research Fellow

I am a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Law & AI, working on adaptive global governance approaches for AI.