Military AI-enabled systems pose serious ethical, legal and societal challenges. There should be meaningful human control (with clear responsibilities for the people involved) of the development and deployment of the automated processes in military operations. Such control should accommodate for concerns related to the increasing levels of AI-enabled machine autonomy in defence, as well as for AI technologies that play a role in providing situation awareness, collecting intelligence or cognitive warfare. All these applications have serious ethical and legal ramifications as they may bias decision-making, mean handing over some degree of autonomy to machines and impact human agency, human dignity and human rights. We therefore need systematic consideration of ethical, legal and societal aspects (ELSA) in the use of AI in the defense domain.

These considerations should ultimately inform us which AI-enabled systems are acceptable and which are not, under what conditions/circumstances. For the current unclarity on ELSA concerns over AI leads to both “over-use” (e.g., using too many AI-systems in too many situations, with lack of consideration of consequences) and “under-use” (e.g., not using AI, due to lack of knowledge or fear of consequences) of AI. Both over-use and under-use of AI in defense may lead to risks of protecting the freedom, safety and security of society.

This post-doc position will focus on a methodology for the safe and responsible use of AI in the defence domain, with particular interest in questions of responsibility and accountability of the people involved. The methodology will have to ensure ethical, legal and societal alignment in all stages of design, acquisition, and operationalization of autonomous systems and military human-machine teams. The project may also identify codesign methods for designing human-machine teams, which can be used to achieve ethical, legal, and societal compliance. It will help identifying the algorithms to be used to ensure this compliance, and will support the efforts to incorporate ethical, legal and societal aspects in a system-of-AI-systems.

The position is part of the ELSA (ethical legal societal aspects) Lab defence, granted under the NWA call “Human-centred AI for an inclusive society – towards an ecosystem of trust”, which focuses primarily on use cases for AI in countering cognitive warfare, in (autonomous) drones and in (non-lethal) autonomous robots. The successful candidate will work under the direct supervision of Stefan Buijsman, assistant professor in the ethics of technology and Mark Neerincx, full professor in Human-Centered Computing. In addition you work with the partners in this Elsa Lab consortium who have ample experience in (military) AI-systems, with a focus on human factors (TNO), legal (Leiden University, Asser), ethical (TU Delft), societal (HHS), and technical (NLDA) aspects. Furthermore, it is part of the Delft Digital Ethics Centre, a group of 30 philosophers of digital technologies that work on ethics by design in a wide range of domains.

The successful candidate in this position is expected to play an active role in the ELSA Lab project described above and to participate actively in the (stakeholder)  workshops, public events, and other project activities.  

You have completed, prior to the appointment, a PhD in Philosophy and a record showing excellent research skills. In addition, we look for affinity with the military domain and the willingness to work in interdisciplinary teams.

Fixed-term contract: 3 years.

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities. The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged.

For international applicants, TU Delft has the Coming to Delft Service. This service provides information for new international employees to help you prepare the relocation and to settle in the Netherlands. The Coming to Delft Service offers a Dual Career Programme for partners and they organise events to expand your (social) network.

Delft University of Technology

Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

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Faculty Technology, Policy and Management

The Faculty of TPM provides an important contribution to solving complex technical-social issues, such as energy transition, mobility, digitalisation, water management and (cyber) security. TPM does this with its excellent education and research at the intersection of technology, society and policy. We combine insights from both engineering and social sciences as well as the humanities. TPM develops robust models and designs, is internationally oriented and has an extensive network of knowledge institutions, companies, social organisations and governments.

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