In recent years there has been a rapid growth in the use of semi-autonomous systems and research into lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS). This has led to a lot of debates in the highest circles at national and international level about the permissibility of the future use of LAWS. In this talk we will highlight some of the ethical aspects that are currently under discussion such as: What are LAWS? How should we understand autonomy? What makes LAWS problematic? Who should be held responsible if something goes wrong?

This event can be attended both in-person and online (via zoom)!

Practical details

• Location: Hoger Instituut voor Wijsbegeerte – Auditorium C (Kardinaal Mercierplein 2, 3000 Leuven)
• Date: Thursday October 21
• Time: 19:30

About the speaker: Ann-Katrien Oimann is a doctoral researcher at the KU Leuven Institute of Philosophy in collaboration with the Royal Military Academy Department of Behavioral Sciences. Her research focuses on the military use of AI in the context of the development of semi-autonomous and fully autonomous weapon systems. Ann-Katrien’s PhD research aims to assess how to distribute responsibility fairly between all the human and non-human actors involved in the use of lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS). To this end, she will analyze the complex chain of responsibility in LAWS and investigate whether it would be necessary to alter our current concept of moral responsibility. Her main research interests are focused on the intersection of (military) ethics, artificial intelligence and law.