Image credit: Christiaan Colen,“Rootkit code,” Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Editor’s Note: A PDF of this research briefing is available at this link.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54813/FLTL8789

War-Algorithm Accountability

Dustin A. Lewis, Gabriella Blum, and Naz K. Modirzadeh

Harvard Law School Program on International Law and Armed Conflict

August 2016 

In War-Algorithm Accountability (August 2016), we introduce a new concept—war algorithms—that elevates algorithmically-derived “choices” and “decisions” to a, and perhaps the, central concern regarding technical autonomy in war. We thereby aim to shed light on and recast the discussion regarding “autonomous weapon systems” (AWS).

We define “war algorithm” as any algorithm that is expressed in computer code, that is effectuated through a constructed system, and that is capable of operating in relation to armed conflict. In introducing this concept, our foundational technological concern is the capability of a constructed system, without further human intervention, to help make and effectuate a “decision” or “choice” of a war algorithm. Distilled, the two core ingredients are an algorithm expressed in computer code and a suitably capable constructed system.

Through that lens, we link international law and related accountability architectures to relevant technologies. We sketch a three-part (non-exhaustive) approach that highlights traditional and unconventional accountability avenues. We focus largely on international law because it is the only normative regime that purports—in key respects but with important caveats—to be both universal and uniform. In this way, international law is different from the myriad domestic legal systems, administrative rules, or industry codes that govern the development and use of technology in all other spheres. By not limiting our inquiry only to weapon systems, we take an expansive view, showing how the broad concept of war algorithms might be susceptible to regulation—and how those algorithms might already fit within the existing regulatory system established by international law. 

Links

Report PDF

Link to a PDF of the full report.

Web Version by Specific Section

Blog Posts

Research Assistants

Learning Resources

Algorithms

  • Introduction to Algorithms (SMA 5503 at MIT, Fall 2005) [link]

  • Design and Analysis of Algorithms (6.046J / 18.410J at MIT, 2012) [link]

Artificial Intelligence

  • Artificial Intelligence (6.034 at MIT, Fall 2010) [link]

Machine Learning

  • Machine Learning (Coursera) [link]

  • Neural Networks for Machine Learning (Coursera) [link]

  • An introduction to machine learning with scikit-learn [link]

Thinking Computationally 

  • Simple Programming Problems (Adrian Neumann) [English link; Chinese link]  

EVENTS

[Write-up last updated: January 2017]