Conference: The Promises of Algorithmic Warfare and their World-Making Effects
An international conference examining the promises, performative forces, and world‑making effects of algorithmic warfare.
About the Conference
Artificial intelligence and autonomous weapon systems are increasingly shaping the strategies and tactics of warfare. It is not only current wars, such as those on Ukraine and in Gaza, that contribute to the accelerated development and deployment of algorithmic technologies, but also the promises associated with them: the promise of a technology that is much faster than human agency and the adversary; whose decision‑making is unaffected by emotions; that is precise, efficient, and ethical; that guarantees information superiority; and that is open to control and legal regulation. Promises are powerful: they shape our imaginations and expectations, and they encourage us to take action and realise visions. Promises have real‑world effects.
The conference of our research network, “Meaningful Human Control: Autonomous weapon systems between regulation and reflection”, critically examines the many promises of algorithmic warfare, their world‑making and performative forces, as well as their ambiguities, limits, and discrepancies. The current discourse is pervaded by buzzwords such as “value‑based technologies”, “human in the loop”, and “responsible AI”, which not only reflect ethical demands from the arms industry and tech start‑ups but also echo values enshrined in international humanitarian law, as well as concerns of human rights organisations and academic expertise.
Conference Language: English
Date & Location
Date: 11–13 February 2026
Location: University of Hamburg, Germany
Registration
Participation in the conference is free of charge. However, we ask for registration. Please register here.
Program
You can find the preliminary program here
Organizers
Prof. Dr. Susanne Krasmann
susanne.krasmann@uni-hamburg.de
Dr. Stephanie Schmidt
stephanie.schmidt@uni-hamburg.de
Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences
Social Sciences, Sociology
Von‑Melle‑Park 5
20146 Hamburg