Death by Algorithm
Death by Algorithm
Podcast Description
A series on autonomous weapons systems, drones and AI in the military domain. Experts from various disciplines share their research and discuss the black box, responsibility, human-machine interaction, and the future of legal and ethical frameworks for AI in war. How is war regulated? Can the ethics of war be programmed into machines? Does it change how we fight? Can war be cleaned up by technology? How can soldiers understand the systems? Will AI systems be the commanders of tomorrow? Why not just let the robots fight? Episodes are narration and interviews and not chronological
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast centers around the intersection of technology and warfare, with episodes exploring themes such as the ethical implications of AI in combat, the black box problem in military drones, and legal responsibilities around autonomous weapons. For instance, 'A Taste of Tragedy' examines the impact of autonomous systems through the lens of the Ukraine conflict, while 'Just War' questions the justification of machine-led combat and its philosophical underpinnings.
A series on autonomous weapons systems, drones and AI in the military domain. Experts from various disciplines share their research and discuss the black box, responsibility, human-machine interaction, and the future of legal and ethical frameworks for AI in war. How is war regulated? Can the ethics of war be programmed into machines? Does it change how we fight? Can war be cleaned up by technology? How can soldiers understand the systems? Will AI systems be the commanders of tomorrow? Why not just let the robots fight? Episodes are narration and interviews and not chronological
Is AI just a tool? What is the difference between human cognition and systems logic? How do the automation and routinisation of war change how we fight and think of our enemy? Does Israel’s target-generating AI systems work in the war in Gaza, and what is the result so far?
Professor of Political Theory Elke Schwarz discusses her research, the black box, meaningful human control, programming ethics into machines, and the future of regulating autonomous weapons systems.
Shownotes:
Producer: Sune With, [email protected]
Cover artwork: Sebastian Gram
Abraham, Yural, November 30. 2023, “A mass assassination factory: Inside Israels calculated bombing of Gaza”, +972Magazine.
https://www.972mag.com/mass-assassination-factory-israel-calculated-bombing-gaza/
Abraham, Yural, April 3. 2024, “Lavender”:The AI machine directing Israels bombing spree in Gaza, +972Magazine.
https://www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-israeli-army-gaza/
Davis, Harry; McKernan, Bentham; Sabbagh, Dan, December 1, 2023, “The Gospel: how Israel uses AI to select bombing targets in Gaza”, The Guardian.
Frankel Pratt, Simon, May 2. 2024, “When AI Decides Who Lives and Dies”, Foreign Policy.
Gritten, David, October 9. 2023, “Israel´s military says it fully controls communities on Gaza border”, BBC.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67050127
Guardian, April 3. 2024, “Israel Defence Forces´ response to claims about the use of “Lavender” AI database in Gaza”.
Krauss, Joseph, February 5. 2025, “Gaza is in ruins, and it´s unclear how it will be rebuilt”, Associated Press.
McKernan, Bethan; Davies, Harry, 3 April 2024, “The machine did it coldly´:Israel used AI to identify 37.000 Hamas targets. The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/03/israel-gaza-ai-database-hamas-airstrikes
No Comment TV, October 9. 2023, “We are fighting human animal”, said Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant” (Accessed March 27. 2025)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbPdR3E4hCk
Schwarz, Elke, March 14. 2024, “Devalued Humanity: The Status of Human Life in Times of Nihilistic War”, Opinio Juris.
Schwarz, Elke, 2021, “Autonomous Weapons Systems, Artificial Intelligence, and the Problem of meaningful Human Control”, The Philosophical Journal of Conflict and Violence, Vol. V Issue 1.
Schwarz, Elke; Renic, Neil, 2023, “Crimes of Dispassion: Autonomous Weapons and the Moral Challenge of Systematic Killing”, Ethics and International Affairs, 37, no. 3, pp. 321-343.
Schwarz, Elke, 2018, “Death Machines – The ethics of violent technologies”, Manchester University Press.
Schwarz, Elke, April 12. 2024, “Gaza war: Israel using AI to identify human targets raising fears that innocents are being caught in the net”, The Conversation.
UN, OHCHR, November 14. 2024, “UN Special Committee finds Israel´s warfare methods in Gaza consistent with genocide, including use of starvation as weapons of war”, UN.
UN, UN News, November 22. 2024, “2024 deadliest year ever for aid workers, UN humanitarian office reports”, UN.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/11/1157371
Music: Sofus Forsberg
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