[Commlist] Call for Papers: AI and warfare

The Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) and 
the Department of Media Studies, University of Bonn invite submissions 
to an international conference on the topic of artificial intelligence 
and future warfare in Berlin from 16-18 October, 2024. The deadline for 
the abstracts is 7 July, 2024. More information is also available at 
www.hiig.de/events/ai-warfare/ <https://www.hiig.de/events/ai-warfare/>.


Call for papers: An International Conference in Berlin, Germany, 16-18 
October 2024


AI and warfare – Investigating the technological and political domains 
of current conflicts


Global conflicts and challenges to international security are among the 
most pressing issues of our time. Artificial intelligence is 
increasingly shaping the ways in which warfare is conducted, adding both 
complications and urgency to the issues caused by the current major 
geopolitical shifts. AI is one of the driving factors of technological 
change in warfare in general, with its major effects mainly related to 
new degrees of complexity in automation and new forms of human-machine 
interaction. On the one hand, this change introduces new capabilities in 
weapons systems, in particular in the fields of processing information, 
generating knowledge and the automation of decision-making. Most 
prominently, this results in a decreasing level of human intervention 
and control, thereby reshaping the relationship between human operators 
and autonomous weapons systems. On the other hand, AI-related 
developments do not only concern the kinetic dimension of warfare but 
also expand into what military theory calls the ‘information domain’. 
Shaping and controlling narratives has been an integral part of 
conflicts and warfare for a long time, with disinformation and 
propaganda campaigns utilising the most recent (media) technologies for 
this purpose. The functionality of AI applications will increasingly be 
integrated in these efforts, as can already be observed with the 
dissemination of manipulated content on social media. AI-based 
technologies are also deployed in cyber warfare, which is not limited to 
the singular hacking of a system, but rather targeted to directly affect 
whole digital military infrastructures or civilian entities in politics, 
the economy or research.


The objective of the conference is to explore these domains of modern 
warfare in order to develop a more accurate picture of the various 
effects of AI in military contexts. Another goal is to broaden the 
perspective of the military deployment of AI beyond questions of weapon 
systems and their control, by particularly looking at adversarial uses 
of AI in hybrid forms of warfare in the information domain. The 
conference particularly aims to develop and establish a dialogue between 
the research on these two domains that are often explored separately.


Against this background and in this spirit, we invite contributions 
along the following lines of inquiry:



(1) AI in military technologies and the relationship between humans and 
machines


The developments of machine learning and automated decision-making in 
networked and data-rich environments do not simply change weapons 
systems but rather have to be modelled as elements in complex systems of 
humans and machines. Military applications of AI, for example, pose 
various kinds of problems at the level of human control over these 
systems which can exert potentially lethal effects. They are also at the 
core of networked information processing (for example to select targets) 
and decision-making based on complex forms of synthesising data. 
Information superiority, situational awareness and electronic warfare 
are crucial issues for an understanding of the contemporary forms of 
military applications of AI-based weapons systems.


Talks in this section may address historical or contemporary examples 
for AI-based information processing in military systems and decision 
making such as target selection, including various forms of cyber 
liabilities of military networks and infrastructures (for example 
communication infrastructure as well as logistics or energy supply). It 
may also explore current technologies based on concepts of human-machine 
interaction, with questions on the role of interfaces, including 
battlefield management systems, or human-machine teaming in the 
interactions between manned and unmanned systems. Relevant contributions 
in this section may also analyse how research and development of 
military technologies are informed by larger cultural narratives of 
AI-enabled weapons.



(2) AI and the relationship between political processes and information 
warfare


Automated and autonomous forms of information generation and processing 
also extend deeply into the media systems of societies, its respective 
militaries, civil institutions and political systems. Corresponding 
questions concern various forms of automated manipulation of public 
opinion, via bots or targeted misinformation (including deep fakes) on 
social media platforms. This domain particularly addresses the political 
decision-making processes in an information and media environment that 
is increasingly influenced by AI technologies.


Talks in this section may address topics such as the use of AI in 
efforts to manipulate public opinion or political processes as part of 
hybrid attacks or warfare in the information domain. Besides the use of 
generative AI in producing manipulated content, phenomena also include 
AI-enabled mass surveillance, as well as the targeting, profiling and 
tracing of individuals in exerting power or with manipulative intentions 
(particularly evoking emotional responses). Other issues concern the 
question of how these developments challenge the idea of democratic 
legitimacy or mechanisms of regulation and accountability (e.g. 
democratic control of autonomous decision-making in military contexts).


We welcome contributions from scholars of diverse disciplines such as 
computer science, cultural studies, political science, international 
relations & security studies, media and communication studies, military 
studies, psychology, sociology and science and technology studies. 
Interdisciplinary approaches as well as perspectives from practitioners 
and developers are also encouraged.


Submission process

Abstractsof approximately 2,500 characters in length (excl. references) 
should be submitted no later than 7 July, 2024 to (ai-warfare /at/ hiig.de) 
<mailto:(ai-warfare /at/ hiig.de)>.

Speakers will be notified at the latest by 31 July, 2024.

More information is also available at www.hiig.de/events/ai-warfare/ 
<https://www.hiig.de/events/ai-warfare/>.

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