ELSA Lab Defence for Responsible AI Usage Officially Launched

In January we reported that two ELSA Labs had received funding. In September, the ELSA Lab Defence officially kicked off. The ELSA Lab Defence is addressing the ethical, legal and societal issues concerning the responsible usage of AI in the defence domain. 

The ELSA Lab Defence will monitor global developments surrounding military AI-based applications, and study how society and defence personnel perceive the use of AI in the military domain. The Lab will also develop a methodology for analyzing, designing and evaluating of ethical, legal, and societal aspects of military AI-based applications. 

The Defence Lab is part of a greater cluster of ELSA labs. The ELSA labs are focused on finding meaningful and human-centric solutions to questions concerning the responsible application of AI. All ELSA labs are deploying a ‘quadruple helix’ approach. This means that apart from involving business, government and knowledge institutes, the labs will also involve the general public to tackle the societal questions and concerns regarding AI.

Partners in the ELSA Lab Defence consortium have experience with (military) AI-systems with a focus on law, ethics, society and technical aspects. Involved parties include Leiden University, Asser Institute, TU Delft, The Hague University of Applied Sciences, TNO, HCSS, NLDA, Ministry of Defence and NATO. Beside these, smaller and medium-sized organisations from within the field of defence will be asked to take place on the advisory board of the ELSA Lab Defence.

HSD will support the ELSA Lab Defence as cooperation partner, by facilitating discussions, coordinating efforts and disseminating its findings. HSD will also assist in involving industry and societal partners in this discussion. 

Interested in participating in the consortium? Please see: https://elsalabdefence.nl/participate/.  If you are interested in ELSA Labs in general, please join the overall ELSA lab kick-off on the 14th of October. Sign up here: https://www.nwo.nl/bijeenkomsten/elsa-lab-live-kick.