“Everybody’s trying to get their hands on it”, says Jessica Dorsey, from Utrecht University. It is seen as “the ultimate technology”, concurs Elke Schwarz, from Queen Mary University. In this podcast by our partners at Asymmetrical Haircuts the two scholars look into the new role of Artificial intelligence (AI) in military targeting, and explain what it means for international humanitarian law.
How can armed forces using AI comply with precautionary principles, let alone proportionality? How can we not let a computer in the dark? “Transparency is one of the main challenges” in the field, says Dorcey. Even the military may not be able to assess what might happen again in the same circumstances, she warns. “Moving towards the idea of maximum lethality is a dangerous shift that we are seeing,” she says referring to Israeli Defence Forces in Gaza. And what does the Minab school massacre in Iran say about the logic of speed and scale, when the US knew or should have known it was a school? Asks Schwartz. Where does it leave international humanitarian law and the eroding protection of civilians?
Welcome to a passionate and engaging conversation.
ASYMMETRICAL HAIRCUTS
This podcast has been published as part of a partnership between Justice Info and Asymmetrical Haircuts, a podcast on international justice produced from The Hague by journalists Janet Anderson and Stephanie van den Berg, who retain full control and independence over the contents of the podcast.
