Pakistan, Sept. 25 -- Artificial intelligence has moved far too quickly from laboratory curiosity to military instrument for the world to keep pretending regulation can catch up later. Pakistan's warning at the UN Security Council on Thursday that AI must not become "another facet of the ongoing arms race" deserves attention precisely because the race is no longer hypothetical. That should ring alarm bells.

Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar told the France-chaired meeting that human judgement must remain central to AI and called for guardrails, restraint and confidence-building measures. The danger is already taking shape. AI is being woven into surveillance, targeting, drones, cyber operations and battlefield planning. The frightening que...