AI and Machine Learning Symposium: Why Detention, Humanitarian Services, Maritime Systems, and Legal Advice Merit Greater Attention

This post is part of our symposium on legal, operational, and ethical questions on the use of AI and machine learning in armed conflict.] I am grateful for the invitation to contribute to this online symposium. The preservation of international legal responsibility and agency concerning the employment of artificial-intelligence techniques and methods in relation to situations of armed conflict presents an array of pressing challenges and opportunities. In this post, I will seek to use one of the many useful framings in the ICRC's 2019 "Challenges" report's section on AI to widen the aperture further in order to identify or amplify four areas of concern: detention, humanitarian services, uninhabited military maritime systems, and legal advice. While it remains critical to place sufficient focus on weapons and, indeed, on the conduct of hostilities more widely, we ought to consider other (sometimes-related) areas of concern as well.