Machine Intelligence and the Changing Keys to Power


Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the capacity of the Old Library is strictly limited to 55 people. Once capacity is reached, we will have to refuse entry to additional participants. To avoid this risk, make sure to arrive early. As per college regulations, you will also be required to wear a mask during the lecture and Q&A session, and to remove it only when you are speaking. We further suggest bringing warm clothes, as some windows will be left open to ventilate the room. Main access to the Old Library is via a steep staircase. Arrangements can be made for those with limited mobility to use a stairlift and a Fellow’s room to gain access. Please let us know at least one day in advance if you require this type of assistance.

Artificial intelligence is frequently cited as a threat. As the Singularity. As killer robots. As the mass production engines of misinformation and social division. But what if there is another implacable threat to democracy dependent on none of these; one we are paying little attention to, and as a result one far more threatening to democracy as we understand it today?

Lieutenant Colonel Al Brown is a Visiting Research Fellow at Oxford. In addition to all the things one might expect in a twenty-year military career in the post-9/11 era, he was previously the lead for the UK military on the study of global trends in robotics and artificial intelligence and their impacts on conflict. He has been one of the group of government experts providing advice to and speaking at the United Nations, and a guest lecturer at various universities, the Royal United Services Institute, and the Alan Turing Institute.