Selina ManneckThe AI-Military Complex: On Drones and New Ways of Warfare
Lecture & Discussion with Jutta Weber, University of Paderborn
Wednesday, 15th of April 2026, 17:00-19:00
University of Klagenfurt, HS 7, Mensa Building
The Russia-Ukraine war is the first conflict to involve the use of hundreds of thousands of relatively inexpensive drones, ranging from tele-operated first-person-view models to (semi-)autonomous drones. Their deployment has fundamentally changed the nature of warfare. And more than 70% of the deaths and injuries, more and more civilian, are caused by drones. Increasingly, even autonomous drones or drone swarms are being deployed in warfare. These autonomous systems can identify and destroy targets without human intervention (“human-in-the-loop”). But according to International Humanitarian Law, every military action must be attributable to an soldier—and not to a computer program. Among other questions, we will also discuss to what extent one can still speak of “meaningful human control” over current AI-driven drone wars.
Jutta Weber is a STS scholar and professor of media, culture & society at the Institute of Media Studies at Paderborn University, Germany. Her research focuses on computational technoscience culture(s) asking how and for whom the non/human actors work . She is head of the BMBF research network ‘Meaningful Human Control . Autonomous Weapon Systems between Reflection and Regulation’ (MEHUCO) . For more see https://juttaweber.eu and https://meaningfulhumancontrol.de.
All students, colleagues and the public are welcome!
No regristration required.
Centre for Peace Research and Peace Education at AAU’s Department of Educational Science (Claudia Brunner) & Department of Media and Communications (Matthias Wieser)
