Investigating the kill cloud: information warfare, autonomous weapons & AI

The “kill chain”—involving the analysis of data by human users of military technologies, the understanding of that data, and human decisions—has fast been replaced by the “kill cloud” that necessitates, allows, and exacerbates increased thirst for domination, violence against distant populations, and a culture of experimentation with human lives. This commentary reports an interdisciplinary discussion organised by the Disruption Network Lab that brought together whistleblowers, artists, and experts investigating the impact of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies on networked warfare. Exposing the problematics of networked warfare and the kill cloud, their colonial overtones, effects on human subjects in real life, erroneous scientific rationalities, and the (business) practices and logics that enable this algorithmic machinery of violence. The conference took place from the 29th of November to the 1st of December 2024 at the Kunstquartier Bethanien in Berlin, Germany.