Position: Head of Research, Metis Institute for Strategy and Foresight

Links: Website | Bluesky

Expertise Areas:  International Security and Technology; Arms Control and Disarmament

Contact: frank.sauer@unibw.de

Bio:

PD Dr. Frank Sauer is the Head of Research at the Metis Institute for Strategy and Foresight and a Senior Research Fellow at the University of the Bundeswehr in Munich. Frank is an international relations (IR) scholar with a research focus on the interplay of technology and security. Most of his work is on nuclear issues as well as on emerging and disruptive technologies, especially the military application of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics.

Selected Publications:

Sauer, Frank 2022: The military rationale for AI, in: Schörnig, Niklas/Reinhold, Thomas (Eds.): Armament, Arms Control and Artificial Intelligence: The impact of software, machine learning and artificial intelligence on armament and arms control, 27-38.

Sauer, Frank 2021: Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems, in: Elliott, Anthony (Ed.): The
Routledge Social Science Handbook of AI, Routledge, 237-250.

Sauer, Frank 2021: Stepping back from the brink: Why multilateral regulation of autonomy in weapons systems is difficult, yet imperative and feasible, in: International Review of the Red Cross, 102 (913), 235-259.

Rosert, Elvira/Sauer, Frank 2021: How (not) to stop the killer robots: A comparative analysis of humanitarian disarmament campaign strategies, in: Contemporary Security Policy 42 (1): 4-29.

Rosert, Elvira/Sauer, Frank 2019: Prohibiting Autonomous Weapons: Put Human Dignity First, in: Global Policy 10 (3), 370-375.

Sauer, Frank 2019: “Military applications of artificial intelligence: Nuclear risk redux“, in: Boulanin, Vincent (Ed.): The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Strategic Stability and Nuclear Risk, Volume I, Euro-Atlantic Perspectives, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), 84-90.

Amoroso, Daniele/Sauer, Frank/Sharkey, Noel/Suchman, Lucy/Tamburrini, Guglielmo 2018: Autonomy in Weapon Systems: The Military Application of Artificial Intelligence as a Litmus Test for Germany’s New Foreign and Security Policy. Volume 49 of the Publication Series on Democracy. Heinrich Böll Foundation, Berlin.

Sauer, Frank 2018: “Artificial Intelligence in the Armed Forces: On the need for regulation regarding autonomy in weapon systems“, German Federal Academy for Security Policy Working Paper Series No. 26, Berlin.

Altmann, Jürgen/Sauer, Frank 2017: “Autonomous Weapon Systems and Strategic Stability“, Survival 59 (5), 117-142.

Sauer, Frank/Schörnig, Niklas 2012: “Killer Drones – The Silver Bullet of Democratic Warfare?” Security Dialogue 43 (4), 363-380.

For a full list of Frank Sauer’s publications, click here.

Blog Posts

• ICRAC statement at the 2018 CCW States Parties Meeting

  As delivered by Prof. Roser Martínez Quirante (in Spanish)   Mr. President, representatives of nations, members of civil society, During the past 5 years, at the Convention on Conventional Weapo..Read more

• ICRAC general statement at the August 2018 CCW GGE

  As delivered by Prof. Noel Sharkey Mr Chairman, Over the last 5 years at the CCW we have seen an increased understanding of the issues and challenges posed by autonomous weapons systems. ICRAC is plea..Read more

• ICRAC statement on the human control of weapons systems at the August 2018 CCW GGE

  As delivered by Dr. Elke Schwarz Thank you, Mr Chairperson, The International Committee for Robot Arms Control is pleased to see states move away from the use of broad, brush-stroke terms such as in-t..Read more

• ICRAC Statement at the 2017 CCW GGE Meeting

  ICRAC Statement to the 2017 UN CCW GGE Meeting Delivered by Noel Sharkey, Chair, on 15 November 2017 I speak on behalf of the International Committee for Robot Arms Control, a founding member of the C..Read more

• Frequently Asked Questions on LAWS

  Memorandum for delegates at the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) Meeting on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) Geneva, 13-17 November 2017 ICR..Read more

• Autonomous Weapon Systems and Strategic Stability

  Building on arguments previously developed for a blog post, ICRAC’s Juergen Altmann and Frank Sauer discuss the strategic implications of autonomy in weapon systems in more depth in a recently pub..Read more