Expert Meeting on Military Applications of AI & International Law

On 8 December 2020, we are organising the first DILEMA Expert Meeting. It will address the topic of Recent Developments and Current Debates on Military Applications of Artificial Intelligence & International Law.

The aim is to take stock of ongoing debates and research, and to set the DILEMA project in context. The meeting will gather experts to engage in discussions on the basis of several presentations, with a view to refining ongoing debates on military AI and international law. 

The meeting will explore the following questions:

• What are current and envisaged applications of AI in the military sector?
• How can AI systems deployed in support of military decision-making as part of complex architectures affect or reduce the agency of human operators or deciders?
• Which military applications of AI have the most critical implications in terms of international law and ethics?
• Why is it important to engage with military AI and its implications beyond the scope of (fully) autonomous weapons systems, which still form the core of discussions in the field of international law?
• In what ways do military applications of AI other than (fully) autonomous weapon systems pose both solutions and challenges for compliance with international law?
• To which extent are national and international policy-makers addressing the full scope of legal and ethical implications of military AI?
• How can we move the debate forward and integrate international law perspectives alongside ethical considerations (e.g. with reference to the US Department of Defense Ethical Principles for Artificial Intelligence)?
• Which core issues have not yet been sufficiently addressed in international law research on military AI?
• What procedures could be implemented to ensure ethical and legal compliance at the stage of development or procurement of military AI?

The meeting will take place online on Tuesday 8 December 2020 (13:00-17:00 CET). To ensure open discussions, participants are asked to treat all information shared at the meeting with appropriate confidentiality.