Ishmael Bhila is a Doctoral researcher focusing on the understanding of in/exclusion and in/equality in the discussions on autonomous weapons systems. In May 2024, he was a fellow of the subproject at Paderborn University. His research brings out a Global South perspective to the conceptualisation of algorithmic warfare, looking at the dynamics of cooperative and deliberative practices in the global governance of autonomous weapons systems, particularly through the analysis of international deliberative spaces like the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (UNCCW) and other regional forums. He has also carried out advocacy work in Southern Africa to encourage governments to push for the development of a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems at the UN.
Publications:
Bhila, I. (2024). “Putting algorithmic bias on top of the agenda in the discussions on autonomous weapons systems”. Digital War. DOI: 10.1057/s42984-024-00094-z.
Bhila, I. (2024). „Strained missions: the diplomatic dilemmas of small states from the Global South in the area of autonomous weapons systems“. Small States & Territories, 7(2), 203-220. https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/128741
Bode, I. & Bhila, I. (2024). „The Problem of Algorithmic Bias in AI-Based Military Decision Support Systems“ ICRC Humanitarian Law & Policy Blog. https://blogs.icrc.org/law-and-policy/2024/09/03/the-problem-of-algorithmic-bias-in-ai-based-military-decision-support-systems/
Bhila, I., Lee, P., & Wakefield, A. (2024). Autonomous Vehicles: Threats, Risks, and Opportunities. ASIS International. URL: https://www.asisonline.org/get-involved/asis-foundation/#autonomous-vehicles.
Bhila, I., Madzimure, E., & Kehinde, AA (2024). Submission to the United Nations Secretary-General’s Report on the “Humanitarian, legal, security, technological, and ethical considerations for autonomous weapons systems”. URL: https://docs-library.unoda.org/General_Assembly_First_Committee_-Seventy-Ninth_session_(2024)/78-241-VPA_WILPF_Zim_CYFEM-EN.pdf.
Bhila, I. (2023). Submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council on the “Human Rights Implications of New and Emerging Technologies in the Military Domain”. URL: https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/advisorycommittee/techmilitarydomain/submissions/5-ngo-virtual-planet-africa.pdf.
Bhila, I. & Chiwenga, E. (2023). “Informal Street Vending in Harare: How Postcolonial Policies have Confined the Vendor in a Precarious Subaltern State”. International Journal of Postcolonial Studies Vol. 25, No. 2. DOI: 10.1080/1369801X.2022.2099938.
Kontakt:
Paderborn University
Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Department of Media Studies
E-Mail: ishmael.bhila@uni-paderborn.de