Harvard Law School Program on International Law and Armed Conflict

We are pleased to share the latest paper from HLS PILAC, “Exercising Cognitive Agency: A Legal Framework Concerning Natural and Artificial Intelligence in Armed Conflict” by Dustin A. Lewis and Hannah Sweeney. ?? Read the full paper here: https://lnkd.in/eTDrNwpX. As States and other actors explore the use of artificial intelligence in war, this paper offers a conceptual vocabulary for understanding the roles and responsibilities of humans in respecting IHL and executing the cognitive tasks embedded in the law. Rather than proposing new policy approaches, the authors seek to clarify how existing conditions of legality structure decision-making and accountability. The authors widen the lens beyond isolated uses of AI to focus on intelligence and cognitive tasks more broadly. By drawing distinctions and similarities between exercises of natural intelligence by humans, on the one hand, and reliance on AI by humans (and the States they serve), on the other hand, the authors aim to help uncover part of what the current legal framework expects, assumes, and requires of humans.

New HLS PILAC series on the UN Security Council, featuring primers by Radhika Kapoor, Quentin M. Levin, and Taha Wiheba — all available for free at https://lnkd.in/eYJfuHXf. ? This series of primers seeks to help equip legal and policy advisers from elected UN Security Council members with key insights on international law and Council procedures. Elected members often lack the experience and resources of the Council’s five permanent members, who have decades of expertise and dedicated teams in New York and their capitals. This series builds on a 2020 HLS PILAC general primer meant to help address that gap, providing practical information for navigating the complexities of Security Council engagement (https://lnkd.in/eFz7yRnF). ? In “A Primer on Subsidiary Bodies of Sanctions Committees Established by the UN Security Council”, Radhika Kapoor sheds light on the establishment, practice, and inner workings of an aspect of the Security Council’s work that is notably active but relatively little understood (https://lnkd.in/eFtMWddp). In “A Primer on Articles 43–47 of the UN Charter: Contribution of Forces for Collective Security”, Quentin MacClean Levin explores the (largely) unimplemented articles of the UN Charter on a military force for the Security Council to protect international peace and security (https://lnkd.in/eky-zcnV). ? And, in “A Primer on the Relationship between the Security Council and the International Court of Justice”, Taha Wiheba sets out the scope for interaction between New York and The Hague (https://lnkd.in/eyD5FscQ).

Join us on Oct. 30 for a talk titled "Current Conflicts and the Role of International Law" by Commodore Ian Park (Ph.D.), Visiting Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School. Date and Location This talk will take place from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm on Wednesday, October 30, 2024 in WCC 2009. Note that access to the HLS campus is limited to HUID holders. Abstract In certain respects, the world is arguably more dangerous and unpredictable now than at any time since the end of the Cold War.?In this talk,?Ian?Park, PhD, will identify and examine select aspects concerning the likelihood of a major global war, the role in international law in current conflicts, and the prospect of a lasting peace. About the Speaker Ian Park, Ph.D., is a Visiting Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School. He is a Commodore (Rear Admiral lower half) in the U.K. Royal Navy, a barrister, and Head of Navy Legal. Park has served in seven ships and deployed worldwide in support of the Royal Navy’s contribution to defense. He has also deployed as a legal adviser on operations to Afghanistan and, on many occasions, to the Middle East. Park is, or has been, a Visiting Fellow at Harvard Law School, a Hudson Fellow at Oxford University, a Mountbatten Fellow at Cambridge University, a First Sea Lord’s Fellow, and a Freeman of the City of London. He is a graduate and Scholar of St. John’s College, Cambridge; has a doctorate in international law from Balliol College, Oxford; and has lectured at Harvard Law School, Cambridge University, Oxford University, The Academy of Military Sciences, Beijing, Hanoi University, NUS Singapore, and Freiburg University, among other institutions. Park has written or contributed to five books including the monograph The Right to Life in Armed Conflict (Oxford University Press, 2018) and is a former winner of the Armed Forces Barrister of the Year at the U.K. Bar Awards.

Join HLS PILAC on Oct. 24 for a presentation titled "Governance of AI in the Military Domain: How Global Practices Shape Norms" by Dr Ingvild Bode & Dr. Anna Nadibaidze: Date and Location This talk will take place from 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm on Thursday, October 24, 2024 in WCC 3016. Note that access to the HLS campus is limited to HUID holders. Abstract Armed forces around the world are developing and using AI technologies for military purposes, including in weapon systems and decision support systems. In the absence of specific, international legal regulations on AI in the military domain, these global practices of developing, training personnel for, and using military systems integrating AI and autonomous technologies are crucial to examine because they have the potential to shape norms on the use of force. This presentation will cover some of these practices (with empirical examples), their normative implications, and potential ways forward in addressing these challenges via governance frameworks. The presentation is based on research conducted as part of the European Research Council funded project AutoNorms. About the Speakers Dr Ingvild Bode?is Professor of International Relations at the Syddansk Universitet - University of Southern Denmark and Director of the Center for War Studies, University of Southern Denmark. Her research examines processes of normative change, especially with regard to the use of force and AI technologies in the military domain. Her work has been published in various international journals, such as?European Journal of International Relations, Ethics and Information Technology, Review of International Studies,?and?Cooperation and Conflict. She is the Principal Investigator of three externally funded research projects: (1)?AutoNorms: Weaponised Artificial Intelligence, Norms, and Order (08/2020-07/2026)?and (2)?AutoPractices: Practices to Sustain and Strengthen Human Agency in the Military Domain (06/2024-12/2025),?both funded by the European Research Council, as well as (3)?HuMach: Human-Machine Interaction in Military Applications of AI (08/2024-07/2028), funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark. Ingvild serves as the co-chair of the IEEE Research Group on AI and Autonomy for Defence Systems and as an expert member on the Global Commission on Responsible AI in the Military Domain. Dr. Anna Nadibaidze is a researcher for the European Research Council funded AutoNorms and AutoPractices projects based at the Center for War Studies, University of Southern Denmark. She holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Southern Denmark. Her research explores, among other issues, AI technologies in international relations and security, as well as governance and arms control of AI in the military domain. Her work has been published in journals such as?Contemporary Security Policy,?Ethics and Information Technology, and the?Journal of International Relations and Development.

?? CALL FOR PAPERS Double standards are an uncomfortable and recurring reality in the international arena. They can extrapolate the political discourse into the international legal one, leading to serious discussions about international law's fairness and authority. In light of this scenario, the Graduate Institute, in partnership with Harvard Law School, will be hosting the workshop "How and Why do Double Standards Matter for International Law?" in Geneva in May 2025. The workshop is co-organized by Professors Patryk I. Labuda and David Hughes. Please send your abstracts by 15 October! Learn more at: https://lnkd.in/dse54VJk

??Did you miss our last DILEMA-HILAC lecture on artificial intelligence? The recording is now available online for you to catch up! A growing number of States are using AI in armed #conflict, with numerous practical and #legal implications. Against this backdrop, Dustin A. Lewis (Harvard Law School) sought to explore settled and open legal questions about natural and artificial intelligence. ?? Watch the lecture here: https://lnkd.in/eeQxgFH5 #AI #security #military ? Taylor Woodcock | Christophe Paulussen | Harvard Law School Program on International Law and Armed Conflict??

??More and more states use artificial intelligence (#AI) in armed conflict, leading to many legal, regulatory, and practical issues. Join us on July 11 for the lecture ‘Natural and artificial intelligence in armed conflict: Exploring settled and open legal questions’ by Dustin A. Lewis. ?? You can join his lecture at the Asser Institute or online.?? ??Register now! https://lnkd.in/eVcyNFmK? ? ?? This event is part of our ongoing DILEMA Lecture Series, which focuses on the intersections of technology, military activity, and international law ?? ?? #internationallaw #artificialintelligence

'Double Standards and International Law', 15-16 July in Berlin, co-sponsored by the Berlin Potsdam Research Group on the International Rule of Law: Rise or Decline? and the Harvard Law School Program on International Law and Armed Conflict; pleased to announce the programme for our workshop https://lnkd.in/dwCCATXT cc Dustin A. Lewis

Upcoming lecture on “Natural and artificial intelligence in armed conflict: Exploring settled and open legal questions.” Join us for this joint HILAC-DILEMA lecture delivered by?Dustin A. Lewis (HLS PILAC), taking place both online and at the T.M.C. Asser Instituut in the Hague on 11 July 2024 at 16h00. Register via this page: https://lnkd.in/eVcyNFmK. A growing number of States are?reportedly preparing?to use, or have already employed, in armed conflicts various techniques and methods derived from the science of artificial intelligence and associated fields. The range of applications spans diverse activities, functions, and authorities, including in such areas as the conduct of hostilities, detention, humanitarian services, and legal advice. These developments might amplify or transform existing concerns — and potentially raise new ones —?regarding?linkages concerning decision-making and judgment in war, accountability, and the legal regulation of armed conflict.??Against that backdrop, this lecture will?seek?to frame,?identify, and evaluate certain key settled and open legal questions?regarding?natural and artificial intelligence in armed conflict.? Dustin A. Lewis?is the Research Director for the?Harvard Law School Program on International Law and Armed Conflict (HLS PILAC). With a focus on public international law sources and methods, he leads research into several wide-ranging contemporary challenges related to securing peace, protecting civilians, regulating hostilities, supporting humanitarian services, safeguarding the environment, and ending armed conflicts. An honours graduate of Harvard College and Utrecht University School of Law, Dustin is also currently an Associate Senior Researcher in the Governance of Artificial Intelligence Program at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). About the DILEMA Lecture Series The?DILEMA Lecture Series?regularly invites academics and other experts working on issues related to the project to present their work and share reflections with a general audience comprising researchers, students, and professionals. Topics of interest within the scope of this lecture series include technical perspectives on military applications of AI, philosophical enquires into human control and human agency over technologies, analyses of international law in relation to (military) AI, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and interdisciplinary contributions related to these topics. About the HILAC lecture series The Hague Initiative for Law and Armed Conflict (HILAC) Lecture Series is an occasional lecture series on the subject of law and armed conflict organized by the T.M.C. Asser Instituut since 2005, in cooperation with the?Netherlands Red Cross?and the?Amsterdam Center for International Law, and held at the T.M.C. Asser Instituut.

On April 10th, HLS PILAC will host a working-paper series lunch with Klaudia Klonowska to discuss her draft chapter titled “The Mirage of the Common Operational Picture: Unpacking How Military Actors See with Algorithms.”?Dustin A. Lewis, HLS PILAC’s Research Director, will moderate the discussion. The event is open to current Harvard Law School faculty, staff, and students. Learn more, including how to register, at https://lnkd.in/eYRz32u4.