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Swarming and the future of warfare : feasibility, impacts, governance

With the massive proliferation of drones, and advances in various AI applications, swarms of increasingly autonomous armed drones are considered by militaries, experts and scholars alike to be an important aspect of future conflicts. The use of swarms is not only likely to proliferate among militaries and non-state actors in the next decades, it is also likely to be immensely disruptive as a new means of warfare. As AI-powered drone swarms enter the battlefield, they will have tactical, operational as well as strategic implications, promising broad and deep changes to the conduct of hostilities.

This interactive panel discussion will survey the many impacts of drone swarms, ranging from their strategic implications, to technical challenges, governance issues, and ethical conundrums.

Swarming and the future of warfare: feasibility, impacts, governance speakers

Dr Sandra Scott-Hayward

Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) - School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science - Queen’s University Belfast, and Polymath Fellow, Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Dr Ricardo Chavarriaga

Head of the Swiss CLAIRE office, Polymath Fellow, Geneva Centre for Security Policy, and Senior Researcher, Centre for Artificial Intelligence, ZHAW
Dr Jean-Marc Rickli

Head of the Global and Emerging Risks and Head of the Polymath Initiative - Geneva Centre for Security Policy, Co-chair of the NATO PfPC Emerging Security Challenges Working Group
Zachary Kallenborn

Policy Fellow - George Mason University
Dr Lydia Kostopoulos

Emerging technologies - US Joint Special Operations University
Tobias Vestner

Head of Research and Policy Advice & Head of Security and Law – Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Ms. Anja Kaspersen

IEEE Director of Global Markets, Frontier

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