On 13 June 2025, Utrecht University’s Governing the Digital Society and Realities of Algorithmic Warfare programme team up with the Asser Institute’s DILEMA project to co-host an interdisciplinary workshop investigating the ‘human’ in the development and use of AI-driven military technologies.

The use of AI in military operations is understood as transforming military capabilities. Recently, AI-enabled systems have increasingly been employed at large scale in densely populated urban areas in conflicts in Gaza, Lebanon, Ukraine, Yemen, Iraq, and Syria. In the context of Gaza, reports indicate that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have used a range of AI-enabled decision support systems (AI-DSS) to generate target lists, leading to exceptionally high civilian casualty numbers.

The workshop and its accompanying keynote will critically examine how the ‘human’ is politically constructed in the development and deployment of AI-driven military systems. Incorporating perspectives from military commanders, engineers, legal advisors, and civilians, the event sets out to explore assumptions, critiques, and ethical and legal considerations regarding the development of these systems, the (lack of) “meaningful human control” involved in their use, and the lived experience of the civilians undergoing their violent effects.

Researchers and practitioners interested in contributing to the workshop are invited to submit a 500-word abstract by December 1, 2024. Accepted participants will be notified by December 20 and draft papers are due in May 2025. For further details on the event and submission guidelines, visit the event website here.