I had the opportunity to attend the #NATO-Industry Forum in Berlin yesterday and the day before, and to moderate the session on autonomy in warfare. A few observations (thread)
[1]
[1]
EU-NATO relations were a big topic, with lots of discussion of the European Defence Fund, PESCO, etc. Everyone, including EU commissioner @EBienkowskaEU and Gen Sec Stoltenberg emphasised that Europe's defence efforts are complementary and not in competition with NATO...
[2]
[2]
...and yet, the fact that this needs to be continuously emphasised at least points to some worries somewhere.
[3]
[3]
The idea of a European #DARPA (US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) was mentioned by several speakers. On this I recommend the following @DelorsInstitute paper. [4]
delorsinstitut.de/2015/wp-conten…
delorsinstitut.de/2015/wp-conten…
Most importantly however: I am continuously struck by how disconnected the public/political debate and the debate among the military/industry is on autonomy & #AI in warfare, and in particular on #autonomousweapons. [5]
Namely, while in the public debate, and many political fora (such as in the Europ parliament recently) the mood is critical, skeptical and leaning towards banning most of it (though little advance on that), industry & military are discussing what to develop and how to use it. [6]
Strikingly, industry appears largely unaware of the debates. Worst, some do not want to engage with it/hear about it. There is a fear to 'wake sleeping dogs' (as if they are not awake yet), and a general misunderstanding that public opinion on this doesn't matter. [7]
(Sidenote, I just had a paper - which the publication specifically commissioned - rejected by a military/industry focused publication for mentioning too much ethics. Anyone who knows my work must realise how absurd this is.)
So once again I recommend bringing these different voices together - industry, military, activists, lawyers, ethicists, social scientists etc. Autonomous warfare and AI in warfare requires a society-wide discussion! [end]
