Eurograd message

                Dear colleagues,

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/.


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

Abstracts of approximately 2,500 characters in length (excl. references)
should be submitted no later than 7 July, 2024 to ai-warfare@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/.

--
Alexander von Humboldt Institut für Internet und Gesellschaft gGmbH
Französische Straße 9 · 10117 Berlin
T +49 30 200 760 82 · F +49 30 206
089 60 · www.hiig.de  · Twitter
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Gesellschaftssitz Berlin |
Amtsgericht Berlin Charlottenburg | HRB 140911B |  USt-ID DE 291 151 171
Forschungsdirektorium: Prof. Dr. Jeanette Hofmann (Geschäftsführung) ·
Prof. Dr. Björn Scheuermann · Prof. Dr. Dr. Thomas Schildhauer · Prof. Dr.
Wolfgang Schulz  |  Geschäftsführung: Dr. Karina Preiß
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