Algorithmic Warfare: Taking Stock of a Research Programme

This article takes stock of the ongoing debates on algorithmic warfare in the social sciences. It seeks to equip scholars in International Relations and beyond with a critical review of both the empirical context of algorithmic warfare and the different theoretical approaches to studying practices related to the integration of algorithms (including automated, autonomous, and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies) into international armed conflict. The review focuses on discussions about (1) the implications of algorithmic warfare for strategic stability, (2) the morality and ethics of algorithmic warfare, (3) how algorithmic warfare relates to the laws and norms of war, and (4) popular imaginaries of algorithmic warfare. The article foregrounds a set of open research questions capable of moving the field toward a more interdisciplinary research agenda, as well as by introducing the contributions made by other articles in this Special Issue.

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This work was supported by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant agreement number 852123). Dr. Tom F.A. Watts’ contribution to this paper was funded by a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Research Fellowship (ECF-2022-135).