The Algorithmic Turn in Security and Warfare

Overview

Functional applications of artificial intelligence (AI) based upon machine learning algorithms are in the process of shaping a diverse spectrum of social, business, legal, and political fields. These developments can be succinctly captured via the notion of an “algorithmic turn”. “The Algorithmic Turn in Security and Warfare” conference invites participants to discuss this framing in the context of diverse settings, including borders, surveillance, predictive policing, weaponised artificial intelligence, and military applications of AI (e.g., image recognition, computer vision). We are interested in submissions that draw upon methods and frameworks of various social sciences, such as science and technology studies, political theory and ethics, critical geography, history, cultural analysis, international law, and International Relations (IR).

Organisation

The “Algorithmic Turn” conference will be hosted by the European Research Council funded project “AutoNorms: Weaponised Artificial Intelligence, Norms, and Order”. Launched in August 2020, AutoNorms is a five-year project that brings together a research team under Dr Ingvild Bode’s leadership. It features research exploring how the development and application of autonomous weapon systems transform use-of-force norms. The AutoNorms project is in turn hosted by the Centre for War Studies (CWS) at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU), an interdisciplinary centre for the major debates on the past, present, and future of war, and its impact on societies.

Format

The conference is planned as an in-person event (1,5 days) but can be adjusted to a virtual or hybrid format subject to COVID-19 travel restrictions and risk assessments. To facilitate in-depth discussions, the conference is organised into six sessions of two hours, each featuring four papers. Participants are expected to read all submitted papers ahead of the conference. In addition, the conference will include a keynote speech by a leading scholar in the area, which will be open to the general public. A selection of conference papers will be turned into a Special Issue on the “Algorithmic Turn in Security of Warfare” to be published by an international peer-reviewed journal.

Participants

The conference is open to senior researchers, early career researchers, and PhD students that are interested in technology and security issues. The conference will serve as a critical space for academic communication among international scholars irrespective of their disciplinary background or geographical scope. The participation of outstanding PhD candidates and early career researchers is further encouraged through a mentoring session with senior researchers on academic writing. Here, senior researchers will be invited to share their personal writing advice and best practices for writing academic journal articles.

Keynote lecture

The keynote lecture The Hacker Way: Moral Decision Logics with Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems by Dr Elke Schwarz will be livestreamed on the CWS Youtube Channel the 6th January 2022 16:30 – 17:30 CET.

Programme and registration

The provisional programme is available here.

In order to attend the conference online, please register here. The deadline is 3 January 2022.
Registered participants will be sent a Zoom link and further details on 4 January.

In case of any queries, please contact Anna Nadibaidze (anadi@sam.sdu.dk).