Responsible AI in the Military Domain

Legitimizing Military AI Beyond Meaningful Human Control

Prof. Dr. Jutta Weber | Paderborn, Media Studies / Media Sociology / Science and Technology Studies (STS)

The project reconstructs the shift in discourse from Meaningful Human Control to the current military-industrial discourse on Responsible AI in the Military Domain (RAI), as well as the operationalization of this concept as a design principle for the development of AI-based weapon systems.

The concept of RAI is associated with the promise of enabling the deployment of highly automated, AI-based military technologies that accelerate key processes of military decision-making without violating normative or international legal standards. At the same time, the project examines how this guiding principle is operationalized both as a set of design principles (ethics by design) and as an element of accompanying research within military development projects.

The research analyzes the tensions involved in, on the one hand, meeting normative and ethical requirements in military research and development projects, while, on the other hand, addressing practical challenges such as translating inherently ambiguous norms into precise mathematical language.