Vortragssprache Englisch AI and Warfare: Navigating the Ethical Frontlines
- Dienstag, 24. Juni 2025, 18:00 Uhr
- Hörsaal Mathematikon (INF 205)
- Prof. em. Raja Chatila
“Autonomy” in the context robotics and Artificial Intelligence translates into a machine capability to make decisions by itself based on data and sensory inputs, according to a predefined process that leaves some latitude to the machine. The extent and dimensionality of the decisional space draws a fuzzy frontier between automation and autonomy. In the context of warfare, the absence of a commonly agreed-upon definition of lethal autonomous weapon system (LAWS) in international negotiations has hampered progress to legally framing their development and use. The rapid evolution of technology is another challenge for the drafting of a legal instrument that can be effectively applied within International Humanitarian Law.
Beyond their precise definition, a central question raised by LAWS is actually about human autonomy, from which stem human moral responsibility and legal accountability. It is indeed the conflation of human decision and machine decision, captured by the notion of meaningful control (by humans), that has to be precisely analyzed considering machine technical capabilities, military doctrine, and human decision-making processes at several levels. Another issue that raises an ethical challenge for Humanity is how much the development of LAWS could shape the very concept of war and the conduct of future violent conflicts by states or other actors.
The talk will provide examples and illustrations with concrete situations.
Adresse
Hörsaal Mathematikon (INF 205)
Veranstaltungstyp
Vortrag
About the speaker
Raja Chatila is professor emeritus of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Digital Ethics at Sorbonne University, Paris, and previously research director at the CNRS. He directed the SMART laboratory of excellence on human-machine interactions as well as the Institute of Intelligent Systems and Robotics (ISIR) at Sorbonne University, and previously the Laboratory of Systems Analysis and Architecture of the CNRS in Toulouse.
His scientific work covers several topics in autonomous robotics, artificial intelligence and human-machine interaction, as well as ethics in digital technologies. He is the author of more than 180 international publications.
He is chair of the Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems of the IEEE (Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers), former co-chair of the “Responsible AI” working group of the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI), and was member of the National Pilot Committee on Digital Ethics in France. He was a member of the European Commission's High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence.
A Fellow of the IEEE, he received the IEEE Robotics and Automation Pioneer Award.