The initiative DIGHUM lectures started with regular online events to discuss the different aspects of Digital Humanism. The bidt and the TU Wien are cooperation partners for DIGHUM lecture series.
Panelists: Elisabeth Hoffberger-Pippan (Peace Research Institute Frankfurt, Germany), Caroline Wörgötter (BMEIA, Austria)
Moderator: Allison Stanger (Middlebury College, USA)
Recent conflicts, from Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine to Israel’s war against Hamas, show that AI has become ubiquitous in contemporary battlefields. But what if AI is not only used to support human decision-making, but to decide – without human intervention or oversight – who shall live and who shall die?Autonomous weapon systems are weapon systems that can identify and neutralize targets without further human input. They have been the center of discussions within the UN Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (GGE) in Geneva for the past years. Achieving progress in Geneva has always been challenging, not least because decision-making in the abovementioned forum requires consensus of all States Parties to the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW). Great power rivalry and an impending arms race have created tension in the GGE. It was mostly Russia, which has obstructed any progress, especially since its invasion of Ukraine.
States have thus moved to other fora to achieve – at least – some progress. One of these steps included a stronger involvement of the UN General Assembly. In December 2022, Austria presented a Joint Statement on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems in the First Committee at the 77th United Nations General Assembly Thematic Debate on Conventional Weapons. Only one year later, the General Assembly adopted the first-ever Resolution on lethal autonomous weapon systems, with the support of 164 States.
The panel will first examine the technological aspects of autonomous weapon systems and discuss different types of weapon systems featuring autonomy, which have already been deployed on the battlefield, such as air defense systems or loitering munition. The panel will also explore the various possible avenues to regulate these systems, most notably the Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly. In his New Agenda for Peace of 2023, UN Secretary-General António Guterres reiterated the various challenges concerning autonomous weapon systems and called upon the international community to agree on legally binding rules by 2026.
About the Series
A roughly bi-weekly seminar offers presentations and panels from worldwide thought leaders. It is typically held on Tuesday afternoons at 17:00 CET.
The bidt and the TU Wien are cooperation partners for DIGHUM lecture series.
Digital Humanism deals with the complex relationship between man and machine. It acknowledges the potential of Informatics and IT. At the same time, it points to related apparent threats such as privacy violations, ethical concerns with AI, automation, and loss of jobs, and the ongoing monopolization on the Web.
For this reason, a new initiative — DIGHUM lectures — started with regular online events to discuss the different aspects of Digital Humanism.
We will have one or more speakers on a specific topic followed by a discussion, or panel discussions, depending on topic and speakers. The exact dates will be announced at least two weeks before.
Participate via Zoom
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Archive and Resources of Lecture Series