AI for Defence and Security

In the digital age, militaries are challenged to move faster and make better decisions, even as the time from idea to operational capability shrinks.

Experts from the Canadian innovation ecosystem in artificial intelligence (AI), the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces recently met during a series of virtual workshops, hosted by CIGI and Defence Research and Development Canada, to share perspectives and generate ideas and potential solutions about the development, adoption and impact of AI in defence and security.

Daniel Araya summarizes the discussions and findings of these meetings in this special report.

President Joe Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia was never going to be easy. But when the world saw the fist bump between the US president and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last month, a furor ensued.

Marie Lamensch argues that although pragmatism often takes precedence over human rights in today’s fraught geopolitical climate, that shouldn’t deter us from shining light on digital rights violations — carried out via spyware, electronic armies, proxy punishment and other digital tactics, and with uniquely gendered aspects — that are committed by our Middle Eastern partners, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The decentralized Web, or DWeb, is a movement whose members share many ideals but differ in their approaches to achieving them. They relate to two main aspirations: first, the empirical (re-)decentralization of the internet, and second, an appeal to make the internet a good place (again).

As Ingra Trauthig explains, successes at the current stage of a decentralized Web are few and far between. For social science researchers, incorporating decentralized services into future research agendas related to authoritarian strengthening or radicalization should be paramount. Taking this approach would help in evaluating the opportunities and pitfalls of these potentially radical technologies as they are still advancing.

In this second of Ronald Crelinsten’s two-part look at what can be done to combat tech-facilitated, gender-based violence (TFGBV), he shifts the focus from legal and regulatory approaches to technical and educational ones.

Crelinsten says the best way to prevent TFGBV is through education that builds digital and media literacy, critical thinking, and an understanding of how the technology works, as both a useful tool and a potential harm. But educational initiatives must reach well beyond the curricula and classrooms of students from kindergarten to university: all stakeholders and sectors of society must become educated about the nature of online gender-based violence, and how to combat it.