Jonathan Horowitz

Critical Effect DC 2025 8th annual industrial control systems security conference | Washington, DC

Looking forward to today’s panel at #CriticalEffectDC. It promises to be a lively discussion that considers everything from vulnerabilities of local essential services, to the risks of war, to the laws that regulate cyber actors operating in armed conflicts. securityandtechnology.org/critical-eff...

Six months of updates: Cyber successes; autonomous weapons and AI march on; and challenges posed by outer space military operations Since I last posted in October 2024, a lot has happened in the realm of tech, international law, and conflict.

Six months of updates: Cyber successes; autonomous weapons and AI march on; and challenges posed by outer space military operations
open.substack.com/pub/techncon...

YouTube video by The RegulatingAI Podcast AI & International Law Governing Armed Conflict Challenges & Future Implications - Jonathan Horowitz

The ways militaries are designing & using #AI for #war demonstrates why soldiers must comply with int'l humanitarian law--law governing armed conflict. I had the pleasure of discussing this and other topics with Sanjay Puri on his podcast RegulatingAI. www.youtube.com/watch?v=beGT...

Digital Dilemmas 2.0: Deepfakes - Intercross: The Podcast In this Digital Dilemmas 2.0: Deepfakes episode, we take a look at two poignant questions: “How do we distinguish truth from manipulation? Who owns the truth?“ We tour a deepfake exhibit created by th...

In the latest episode, Intercross (@icrc.org) welcomes back Laura Walker McDonald to help us understand the limits to harmful information online, how harmful information affects communities in conflict and situations of violence, and what we can do about it. blogs.icrc.org/intercross/2...

Israel and the occupied territories: ICRC facilitates return of remains, detainees under ceasefire agreement

Israel and the occupied territories: @icrc.org facilitates return of remains, detainees under ceasefire agreement www.icrc.org/en/news-rele...

Hostages, humanity, hard choices: The Red Cross’s mission in Gaza The International Committee of the Red Cross remains concerned about the exploitation of hostages in recent hostage handovers.

In an effort to explain the @icrc.org’s work, and the conditions it works in, my colleague Steve Dorsey penned this op-ed: “Hostages, humanity, and hard choices: Defending the Red Cross’s mission in Gaza” www.washingtonexaminer.com/op-eds/33280...

Upholding the ceasefire in Gaza is an imperative for preserving human life and dignity

“Hostages need to be released. People in Gaza need respite from violence and access to...humanitarian aid. This all depends on the continuation of the ceasefire agreement" www.icrc.org/en/statement...

Trying to square the circle: the ICRC AI Policy ICRC Senior Policy Adviser Pierrick Devidal reflects on lessons learned from the ICRC’s experience building its recently adopted AI Policy.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) just issued an AI Policy paper! Very glad to have this in place. blogs.icrc.org/law-and-poli...

How to respond?: Yoshua points to int'l agreements & treaties as ways to moderate behavior. But why would govts be incentivized to limit their sovereignty over AI, he asks? He points to govt fears of loss of human control, and that govts will not want a single entity to abuse the power of AI.

Yoshua raises issues/concerns about the consolidation of power via AI and asks how can that be compatible with democracy and worries that the creation of new weapons could create geopolitical instability. What if AI allows for a geopolitical "power grab"?, he asks. Guardrails can be removed.

AI capabilities are on an exponential rise, with increased collection of data, progress in language, and a big rise in funding. He recalls Turing's word of caution around how humans might control AI systems "smarter than us," but hard to know when/if AGI will arrive.

Harms and Risks of AI in the Military A cross-disciplinary workshop fostering an open and inclusive discussion on the harms and risks of using AI for military purposes

Kicking off the day listening to @yoshuabengio.bsky.social's welcoming address at MILA's 2-day event on harms and risks of AI in the military. Here's info about the event: harms-risks-ai-military.org.

We're assembling a starter pack of Tech Policy Press contributors on Bluesky! Follow the folks in our community for perspectives on a range of issues at the intersection of technology and democracy!

I've really been enjoying these starter packs as a way to find voices I followed over on the other site and also to find new ones. Here's a short thread of some of the packs I'm following (starting with a work-in-progress @techpolicypress.bsky.social one): bsky.app/profile/tech...

Looking forward to delivering a talk titled: “AI in Armed Conflict: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?” amongst a collection of impressive presenters and participants at
#HRAIM2024. www.harms-risks-ai-military.org

EVENT: Contemporary Armed Conflicts: Realities and How IHL Addresses them

With 120+ armed conflicts worldwide, and as we mark the 75th anniversary of the 4 Geneva Conventions, the ICRC is hosting an event on 26 Nov. on its flagship legal report: “International Humanitarian Law and the Challenges of Contemporary Armed Conflicts." Register👉 www.icrc.org/en/event/eve...

One Click From Conflict | Jonathan Horowitz | Substack Posting about tech, war, law & policy. Getting the word out about how armed conflict is shaped by tech, how tech is shaped by armed conflict, and what risks and opportunities lie ahead. Click to read ...

Hi all. I've joined Bluesky (obviously). Good to be with you all. I'm a Legal Advisor at the ICRC's office in D.C., working on emerging tech, urban warfare, and partnered ops. I'm also at technconflict.substack.com.

It was a pleasure speaking with @lawfare.bsky.social about how the laws of war address risks that arise when tech companies offer support to belligerents. A key point: These companies and governments need to talk about these risks with each other with the aim of avoiding harm to civilians.