Research Themes

Human-Machine Interaction

The extent to which humans remain in direct control of the use of force and the quality of that control are key themes animating the international debate on autonomous weapons systems. This research theme examines these concerns in the context of practices of human-machine interaction and how they shape emerging use of force norms, including an emerging norm of “meaningful” human control. 

Articles on human-machine interaction

Human - Machine Interaction

Loitering Munitions Report Online Launch Event

On 8th December 2023 13.00-14.15 (CET)/12.00-13.15 (GMT), an expert panel (including Laura Bruun, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) will discuss the major findings of the “Loitering Munitions and Unpredictability: Autonomy in Weapon Systems and Challenges to Human Control” report published earlier this year. You can register to attend this online

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Human - Machine Interaction

The Creator of New Thinking On AI? Popular Culture, Geopolitics, and Why Stories About Intelligent Machines Matter

Whilst the depiction of weaponised artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in popular culture is often highly inaccurate and dramatized, Hollywood blockbusters provide the starting point from which many members of the public begin to develop their thinking about these technologies. For instance, news articles discussing AI are often accompanied with images

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Human - Machine Interaction

Five Questions We Often Get Asked About AI in Weapon Systems and Our Answers

By Anna Nadibaidze and Ingvild Bode The ongoing integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous technologies in weapon systems raises many questions across a variety of fields, including ethics, law, philosophy, and international security. As part of the AutoNorms project, we have contributed to many of these discussions over the

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Human - Machine Interaction

Loitering Munitions and Unpredictability: Autonomy in Weapon Systems and Challenges to Human Control

Download the report here By Ingvild Bode and Tom Watts A new report published by the Center for War Studies, University of Southern Denmark and the Royal Holloway Centre for International Security highlights the immediate need to regulate autonomous weapon systems, or ‘killer robots’ as they are colloquially called. Written by

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Alexa Steinbrück / Better Images of AI / Explainable AI / CC-BY 4.0
Human - Machine Interaction

A Question of Trust? New US Initiatives to Tackle the Human Control Problem

A lack of or a substantially diminished quality of human control is often understood as the major problem associated with military AI. The US Department of Defense (DoD) ‘Directive 3000.09’ that was released in 2012 as one of the first political documents on autonomy in weapon systems, for example, states

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