The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) has established five core AI Ethics Principles to ensure the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence in defence. These principles—Human-Centricity, Responsibility, Understanding, Bias and Harm Mitigation, and Reliability—are designed to align AI systems with democratic norms, societal values, and human rights. They apply across all AI use cases in defence, from battlespace to back office, and throughout the lifecycle of these systems.

To disseminate these values within defence and the AI Developer community, Professor David Whetham and King’s College London developed an interactive tool using a ‘knowledge tree’ visual symbol. The Trunk introduces the UK's AI Ethics Principles, the Roots explore broader ethical foundations, the Leaves demonstrate practical application, and the Fruit provide case studies on ethical risk assessment and mitigation.

The project highlights the importance of ethics education for STEM experts developing military AI systems, who often lack formal ethics training and understanding of military organisational values. This online event will showcase the project's background, effectiveness, and the methodology used to create the AI ethics tools for the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and the UK MoD.

You do not need any prior knowledge of AI to enjoy this event.

Register on Eventbrite.

Speaker

Professor David Whetham is Professor of Ethics and the Military Profession and Director of the King’s Centre for Military Ethics in the Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy, King’s College London. 

He supports military ethics education in many different countries and has held numerous visiting fellowships. He is a founding member of the European Chapter of the International Society for Military Ethics. In 2020 he was appointed as an Assistant Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force to contribute to the Afghanistan Inquiry into allegations of war crimes committed by Special Forces personnel and he currently sits on the UK Defence Medical Services Ethics Committee, the UK MoD AI Ethics Panel, the 77X Ethics Advisory Panel, and the Australian Defence Force’s International Standing Panel of Experts in Ethics.

King's Festival of Artificial Intelligence

This event is part of the King’s Festival of Artificial Intelligence. Running from Tuesday 20 May to Saturday 24 May, the free, five-day festival brings together a diverse line-up of experts to consider critical questions about artificial intelligence in the context of healthcare, education, sustainability, policy, and creativity.

If you are interested in this event, you may also want to join us for:

• Emotional AI and Emotional Privacy
• Bletchley Park and AI (online)

Festival events will take place across several King’s venues, so please check carefully where the event is taking place. Festival event times may be subject to change. Any changes will be communicated to attendees via Eventbrite emails.

Please note, King's events are free, which means we routinely overbook to allow for no-shows and avoid empty seats. Admission is on a first come, first served basis, so please arrive in good time to avoid disappointment. We will not be able to admit those without tickets or latecomers.