NPR

At the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, the Futures Lab is working on projects to use artificial intelligence to transform the practice of diplomacy.

With funding from the Pentagon’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office, the lab is experimenting with AIs like ChatGPT and DeepSeek to explore how they might be applied to issues of war and peace.

While in recent years AI tools have moved into foreign ministries around the world to aid with routine diplomatic chores, such as speech-writing, those systems are now increasingly being looked at for their potential to help make decisions in high-stakes situations. Researchers are testing AI’s potential to craft peace agreements, to prevent nuclear war and to monitor ceasefire compliance.

The Defense and State departments are also experimenting with their own AI systems. The U.S. isn’t the only player, either. The U.K. is working on “novel technologies” to overhaul diplomatic practices, including the use of AI to plan negotiation scenarios. Even researchers in Iran are looking into it.

Futures Lab Director Benjamin Jensen says that while the idea of using AI as a tool in foreign policy decision-making has been around for some time, putting it into practice is still in its infancy.