OpinioJuris Symposium on Military AI and the Law of Armed Conflict - Lena Trabucco

Law and the Future of War

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Part of the ongoing debate about the lawfulness of autonomy in military systems in the manner in which the technology integrates with and interacts with its human masters. The term Meaningful Human Control (or MHC) has garnered particular relevance in this debate. Today we speak with Dr Lena Trabucco about her upcoming OpinioJuris Symposium on Military AI and the Law of Armed Conflict, co-edited with Dr Magda Packholska, on this issue, as well as her work on legal challenges associated with emerging technology more broadly.
Lena is a research fellow, a visiting scholar at the Stockton Center for International Law at the US Naval War College, and research fellow at the Technology, Law and Security Program at American University College of Law and the University of Copenhagen. Her research focuses on the intersection of international law and emerging military technology, particularly autonomous weapon systems. She has multiple projects examining human control throughout an autonomous weapon system life cycle. Previously, she was a post-doctoral researcher at the Centre for Military Studies at the University of Copenhagen. Lena received a PhD in law from the University of Copenhagen and a PhD in international relations from Northwestern University.

Additional resources:

• Opinio Juris Symposium on Military AI and the Law of Armed Conflict
• Kevin Jon Heller, 'The Concept of 'The Human' in the Critique of Autonomous Weapons', 14 Harvard National Security Journal (2023)
• Magdalena Pacholska, 'Military Artificial Intelligence and the Principle of Distinction: A State Responsibility Perspective', Israel Law Review (2022), 1–21
• Rebecca Crootof, 'A Meaningful Floor for 'Meaningful Human Control', Temple International & Comparative Law Journal, Vol. 30, 2016
• Kenneth Payne's Substack
• Killer Robot Cocktail Party (Lena and Brad Boyd's substack)