In the current 2022–24 Lender Center for Social Justice Fellowship Project, a group of students is investigating how AI-controlled weapons transform war and surveillance. Directed by anthropology professor Mona Bhan, the project team includes three Maxwell students: Aren Burnside, who earned dual bachelor’s degrees in anthropology and philosophy in 2020 and is now working on his doctorate in anthropology; and rising juniors Nadia Lyngdoh-Sommer, a sociology major, and Anna Terzaghi, who is majoring in anthropology and international relations.

Lyngdoh-Sommer’s interest in the area is fueled by her background. Growing up in Singapore, she witnessed how the country uses AI technology to police and surveil its citizens. She and her research counterparts say the fellowship has provided an introduction to the field of how AI weapons systems transform war and surveillance activities and accentuate the social and political vulnerabilities of humans to violence.

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By John Boccacino