Event

Algorithmic Warfare: Artificial Intelligence and the Ethics of Target Selection

Date
27 Oct 2025
Time
17:30 UK time
Speakers
Tsvetelina van Benthem
Broderick McDonald
Adam McCauley
Series
Oxford Emerging Threats & Technology Working Group
Audience
Oxford University Members and Wider Academic/Policy Community
Booking
Required
Join us for a panel discussion exploring the revolution in artificial intelligence and autonomous weapons systems in national security. Panelists will explore how frontier and other advanced AI models are reshaping autonomous targeting while examining their technical, strategic, and legal-ethical dynamics. Panelists will discuss the advantages and risks of AI-driven speed and deception, the challenges of maintaining accountability and control, and the evolving frameworks of proportionality, distinction, and human oversight that will define the future conduct and governance of conflict.

Recent controversies—such as reports of algorithmic targeting tools like Gospel and Lavender used in Gaza, and ongoing UN negotiations over “meaningful human control” in lethal autonomous weapons—have thrust these questions into the global spotlight. Bringing together experts in ethics, law, technology, and defense policy, this panel explores how states and societies can reconcile the pursuit of operational precision with the enduring moral and legal imperatives of warfare in the AI age.