AI in Security and Defense

Workshop on AI in Security and Defense (AI4SD) by Helmut Schmidt University and Fraunhofer FKIE at ECAI 2025 on October 26th in Bologna, Italy

Artificial Intelligence is increasingly recognized as a dual-use technology, where the same solutions are applied to both civil security and defense. However, its integration into these domains extends beyond the mere adoption of existing AI methodologies. Security and defense introduce distinct and complex requirements, particularly in areas such as ethics and cybersecurity, which necessitate tailored AI solutions.

This workshop aims to examine these evolving requirements and explore potential AI-driven approaches for security and defense. Key topics include AI use cases in security and defense, innovative methodologies for addressing sector-specific challenges, and both technical and non-technical obstacles associated with AI implementation in these contexts. Furthermore, the focus is on the techno-ethical dimension of AI deployment encompassing not only the ethical responsibilities inherent in the design and development of AI systems but also critical concerns regarding accountability in decision-making processes where AI supports or informs human judgments. These issues are especially pressing in scenarios where AI-driven decisions have significant societal or humanitarian implications.

Topics of the workshop include but are not limited to

• Possible Applications, technical and nontechnical Challenges and Limitations of AI in Command & Control, Strategic and Operational Planning, Wargaming, Data Fusion, Situation analysis, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), …
• Uncertainty in Security and Defense: Strategies for effectively managing the inherent uncertainty associated with data-driven AI methodologies in Security and Defense.
• Ethical Foundations of AI in Security and Defense: Exploring the core principles of AI ethics in dual-use technologies.
• Accountability and Responsibility in AI Systems: Developing frameworks for responsibility in AI-supported decision-making processes.
• Human Oversight and the Role of Ethics in Decision-Making: Examining human-in-the-loop, human-on-the-loop, and human-starting-the-loop paradigms for AI governance.

Accepted papers

We are pleased that the following papers have been accepted:

• Leon Becker and Oliver Rose: Enhancing Military Decision-Making through Simulation-Guided Post-Training of Large Reasoning Models
• Maaike de Boer, Andrew Eden, Jacqueline Eaton and Douglas S. Lange: A Vision on the Potential of AI in Human Expert Input and labeling in Military Lessons Learned
• Benedikt Bußmann and Gerhard Schreiber: Hyperwar and the dehumanisation of war. An ethical consideration.
• Maximian Geyer and Jannik Schwab: Risk-Aware Autonomous Defence with Generative AI: Ethical and Accountability Challenges in Cyber-Physical Infrastructures
• Sylvia Hochstuhl, Horst Hammer and Antje Thiele: Monitoring Military Vehicle Depots: A U-Net-based Approach for Vehicle Counting in SAR Imagery
• Sylvia Kühne and Gerhard Schreiber: Wargaming in the Age of AI: From synthetical immersion to analytical simulation?
• Gianluca Manca, Franz C. Kunze, Nico Oblisz and Alexander Fay: Adaptive Uncertainty Quantification for Maritime Classification under Cloud Cover in Satellite Imagery
• Gioacchino Sterlicchio, Angelo Oddi, Riccardo Rasconi and Francesca Alessandra Lisi: A Declarative Approach to Strategic Deconfliction in Urban Air Mobility

Program will be available soon.